Chasing Daylight
by AutumnRhythm
Summary: Bella came to Forks seeking refuge: instead she found Edward Cullen. Running away from her troubles doesn’t sound so great once she meets this charming vampire: too bad she’s still being chased. starts out with the way they meet in Twilight, then changes
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first attempt at a fanfiction story, so I hope that it turns out alright. If you have any suggestions or comments, please review!

Also, this story starts out a lot like Twilight does—Bella sees Edward at lunch, gets freaked out in biology, and thinks he hates her…except this time, Alice Cullen takes an interest in her, too, which changes the rest of the story entirely. There's also the tiny fact that Bella is being tracked by a mysterious antagonist…so, just be patient with the story until the changes start happening.

And PLEASE, PLEASE review. It seems to me that if you alert this story or put it on your favorites, you should also review it. So please review, even if you hate it.

Bella POV

Chapter 1

The water streaked down the glass like a river was falling outside of the car window, blurring the trees into dizzy spirals of green and brown and gold. I sighed…just thinking of the word green made _me_ feel green. I had always loved the color, with the electric limes and sultry pines. Now it just made me sick. But hey—being in Forks could do that to a person.

Charlie turned to glance at me in the mirror, his brown eyes worried. I almost felt bad—I hated people spending any emotions over me…it was embarrassing. But I was happy that he was feeling something. For so many years now, he had seemed…not exactly apathetic, but somehow bland. Like water.

I grimaced again. Even moisture was a no-no on my list, because in Forks it was everywhere, seeping into your clothes, into the ground, clinging onto your hair, and to your eyelashes…it was horrible. I had only been in this dingy little town for fifteen minutes and already I could feel the old hate growing in the pit of my stomach. Moisture. Green. Charlie.

Urgh.

"So." His statement shocked me into the world of speaking again. "I found you a car."

I stiffened. "Um, Char…Dad…thanks, but, that's okay. I was going to buy one for myself, no need to waste your time." I hated time inefficiency, something that my father was so good at. I guess I had picked up that little attribute from Renee—she always was busy, always trying to do something to fill up the empty spaces in her life. 'You've got to keep going, Bella,' she had said to me, 'You've got to make every moment a memory of why we keep living. Don't spend your days like…some people.' And we had both known she had meant Charlie. Her silence spoke louder than any words ever could.

At least, that's how she had been before she met Phil. My new father-in-law. I scowled. The guy had finally proposed after a two-year whirlwind courtship of sky diving, chocolate boxes, and toffee…he had finally gotten a ring on my mom's finger. That was on of the reasons I came here—because now, with her married, she would never be the same. She would belong to someone else, and not just to me. She would think differently, not be so crazy, not be so dependent—she wouldn't need me. So I basically ran away from the situation. I wasn't jealous of them, though I was certainly far from happy. But karma came back to get me, I thought bitterly, because I ended up running away to _Forks_ of all places—Forks, the dreariest town in the U.S. of A..

And then there was the _other_ situation. The one hanging around in a bag at my neck—I unconsciously fingered the pouch, the rough material reminding me not to try and remember it. _Don't think about it. Don't._

"Oh, well…" I could hear a sheepish tone color Charlie's voice. "I kind of already bought it, Bells."

"Oh." I said, surprised. He had taken the initiative. Interesting. But I was beyond caring…if he had already bought me a car, so much the better.

"You're okay?" He sounded unsure. Had he expected me to throw a tantrum?

"Yeah," I said monotonously. "Thanks. That's really…great of you."

"No problem." He threw a smile in my direction. "I just didn't think you'd be really comfortable driving to school in a police cruiser every day."

I shuddered, and, for the first time since getting off the plane, smiled. "Yeah."

He beamed gratefully back at me, glad I was happy. I sighed. That meant that I now had to act Disney-princess joyful for the rest of the time, and I hated acting. _Just think about getting to some shelter from this downpour_, I thought to myself, _Focus on something, anything else._

"So," he said, his voice more confident, "School starts tomorrow. I'm sure you're going to love it. There're some really nice kids that live here, Bells. You'll have tons of friends in no time."

Tons of friends. Joy. But my sarcasm didn't carry to my voice. "Yeah!" I said brightly, hoping to appease his hunger for my happiness. "I'm sure it'll be great. Dandy," I couldn't help adding, almost giggling at my unusual word choice. The weirdest things amused me.

"Well, uh, okay. Just have fun, okay Bells? I'm gonna have to leave at six, so you just go on without me…but I'll wake you, if you want."

I nearly gagged at the thought of Charlie entering my room. "Uh, no thanks," I said hastily. "I think I'll be fine."

"Okay," he nodded, and turned back to stare at the road, the soporific drone of the windshield wipers and pattering of the rain not affecting him.

I sank once again into my state of melancholy, everything coming back to hit me hard in the gut.

School. Forks. Green. Moisture. Charlie.

_Him._

Until college…if I lasted that long.

I rolled my eyes heavenward and moaned.

This was going to be a long year.

ASADSFADS ASADSFADS ASADSFADS ASADSFADS

She was a beauty—a great, hulking, massive, fire-truck, hair-set-on-fire, flaming red monster, a thing of aesthetic metalwork.

And (I noted the ping of pleasure in my head) she was _mine_. My own car, my own truck, my own transportation. She was my very own. All the scowls of the day and the grumbles of the weeks leading up to my exile to Forks seemed to vanish as soon as I hopped inside of her, squishing myself into the leather upholstery and filling my nose with the heady scent of peppermints and cigarettes and detergent.

Bliss.

"Charlie!" I called out happily from the rolled down window, not caring that I had just used his first name. "Charlie, this is perfect!"

My ecstatic look must have pleased him, because the smugness on his face just wouldn't die down. "I knew you would like it," he yelled over the pulse of the rain, his thinning brown hair plastered to his shining scalp. "I just knew it. Got it from Billy Black, you know, from La Push?"

I nodded vaguely, trying to see if I could actually remember. After a moment of thinking, I gave up. I had no idea who he was talking about. But Charlie kept babbling on about this and that and Billy and a bunch of other people who I couldn't be bothered to keep track of. But I supposed I would get used to it in time. After all, I was going to be spending a while here.

I sighed and reluctantly exited the truck, gazing wistfully at the inviting brown fabric, feeling the smooth silkiness of its well oiled existence with the back of my knuckles. At least there was one thing to look forward to here.

I followed Charlie inside, my duffle bag slung over my shoulder and my other arm tucking my battered copy of Wuthering Heights into the folds of my jacket. Charlie, being the perfect gentleman, had offered to carry my two other small suitcases up the stairs to my new bedroom. I had accepted his generous offer gratefully, feeling slightly ashamed that I hadn't bothered to mention that those two suitcases were filled with books, and not clothes. I knew from dragging them along the flight terminal that they were not an easy load.

I could hear Charlie panting on the upstairs landing, his voice heaving as he wheezed, "Hey…Bells…come on up." And then he added to himself, "Geez, what did you put in these things? Bowling balls?"

I smiled. Good old Charlie. I quickly ran up the steps, staring hard at my feet to make sure that I didn't trip and fall all the way back down the stairs.

My room was the same as ever—pale, washed out, nondescript. Very much like me…with my beyond-fair skin, my overly large brown eyes, my lanky brown hair, and my too-full lips. My nose was the only proportionate thing about me. And even that was slightly too pointy, too "ski-slope."

Charlie grinned at me once I entered. "Have fun unpacking, kiddo." Of course, he would give me privacy; that was his nature. He would let me have a moment. Unlike Renee, who would have been hovering around me like a swarm of mosquitoes.

I sighed and flopped onto my twin sized bed—an upgrade, I noticed, since last time it had been a single. I flipped onto my back, staring at the clear white ceiling above me. A blank slate, I thought. A new start. A chance to forget.

But when I saw the single piece of white paper fluttering innocently enough on the wooden desk in the corner, all my chances and hopes of forgetting fell away from me. My attempt at normalcy was over.

I got up and walked shakily to pick up the sheet. And there, in the dead center, the small, crawling handwriting that I had come to fear.

"_Sleep well, Bella."_

It was then that I realized that I could never escape. I _would_ never escape. There wasn't a hope in the world. Because he was tracking me—a hunter, a killer—and, as he had told me in notes before, he had never abandoned his prey.

I would never get away.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Alright, here goes with another chapter…they're fairly short for now, but they'll become longer as the story progresses. Enjoy!

Bella POV

Chapter 2

I woke up at six-thirty, tears still lingering on my face. I had unconsciously cried the entire night. Talk about pitiful.

I sniffled and grasped at the pouch around my neck, the one I carried everywhere, even to the shower, no matter what. And now, another note had been added to it's contents. Soon I would have to find a normal place to store them.

I got up, washed my face, brushed my teeth, combed through my tangled mane of brown hair, got dressed, and munched on a granola bar, though none of these activities left any lasting imprint on my memory. I was just going through the motions, finishing up by sliding onto the front seat of my new car. I checked my reflection in the mirror, noticing the slightly purple bags beneath my eyes and the paleness of my skin. The rest of my appearance was okay—my hair looked relatively straight, with some bunches of frizz at the top, and my eyes looked big and shy. My black sweatshirt, white tee shirt, and comfortable old jeans helped to fit with my "girl-next-door" persona. And, strangely enough, my appearance seemed to also fit with the similarly dreary climate.

The truck gunned into life like a round of bullets being fired in the distance. There was bound to be a fault with a car like this, I rationalized. And really, the sound problem wasn't that bad. It would sure be a dramatic way to enter the school, though. I had to smile when I thought of that.

I drove along the winding back roads that Charlie had pointed out to me on the drive back from the airport—he knew that my memory was excellent. Again, a trait I picked up from Renee, who would leave me so many different things "to-do" over the phone with no paper in reach that I had been forced into the habit of remembering. Of course, when it concerned _him_, it was much more of nuisance than it should have been.

Forks High School was very much like the town itself; small and wet and boxy, little square buildings situated every ten feet from one another, groups of trees clustered into every available, unpaved space. I had no idea what I was doing, so instead of driving around in circles like someone who didn't have a clue, I just parked outside the most official looking building situated in the center. I walked inside, hands in my pockets, concentrating on not tripping over anything.

The woman at the desk was sporting a purple shirt and obviously-dyed red hair. Her orange glasses somehow managed to add a similar clash to the rest of the ensemble. "Yes, deary?" she said, glancing at me kindly. "Do you need something?'

"Hi, yeah," I said nervously, "I'm Bella Swan."

"Oh," she said, her eyebrows raised. "Charlie's daughter? Oh, honey, I have your schedule and everything right here."

"Uh, thanks," I said, blushing. I hated that being the Chief of Police's and his flighty ex-wife's daughter meant being very conspicuous and getting a lot of attention that I didn't particularly want.

I gripped the schedule tightly and hurried back outside into the rain, hopping into my truck and following a newly formed line of cars into a parking lot tucked behind the main building. I could see people staring at me from within their cars, turning to catch a glimpse of "the new girl".

I sighed. This was going to be torture.

As I stepped into the rain, I could at least be glad that I didn't stand out. They probably had been expecting a blonde bombshell from Phoenix, but I definitely didn't fit their expectations. I looked relatively at home here, at least on the outside, not like a tanned volleyball player from Arizona. My rusty monster of a car certainly fit in with the other cars in the lot, most of which looked like they were hand-me-downs. The only car that stuck out was a shiny silver Volvo at the end of the lot, but even that looked less out of place through the thick rain.

I drifted towards the building, painfully aware of the hard asphalt beneath my feet that was slick with water. I absolutely would hate it if I tripped in front of all these wondering eyes.

But, of course, luck not being with me, I tripped on where the street met the sidewalk, barely managing to keep myself upright. My schedule fell to the ground, the moisture immediately soaking it brown. Perfect.

I was surprised when I saw a delicate white hand pick up the paper, shaking it gently before sticking it beneath my nose.

"Here," a melodious voice said, strangely distorted by an emotion of some sort…happiness?

I blushed as soon as I saw who it was—a girl, beautiful and petite, with short black hair and skin even fairer than mine. Her eyes widened as soon as she saw me.

"Wow," she said, "You're awfully pale. Are you alright?"

I didn't feel like pointing out that, between the both of us, she was the one who looked like she was coated in flour. Instead, I nodded mutely and snatched my schedule out of her hand, my light blush instantly deepening to a burgundy. I hated how easy it was to embarrass me, because for me, embarrassment meant blushing.

And I especially hated that it was so easy to make me feel inferior. And this girl, who I did not know, who had barely even spoken to me, was already well on her way to making me feel like the lowest of the low. Because, even as she stood thoughtfully, beautiful golden eyes narrowed, there was such a fluidity in her motions that I thought she must be a dancer. Her delicate and angular features, so very close to an untarnished white, and thin frame only made her seem more and more like a runway model. I wasn't jealous—I had long ago accepted the fact that I was no great beauty. But in the face of such gorgeousness it was hard not to feel self-conscious…

"Well," she said, her voice as graceful as her movements, "I'm going to have to get back to my family now—they're about to start looking for me. But have a nice day!"

I nodded again, too stunned to speak.

It wasn't until fifteen minutes later, stuffed inside of my English classroom, that I started to think about what she had actually meant by, "They're about to start looking for me."

She had been speaking about the possible future, and stated it as fact.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: On with chapter 3! Fluff finally begins in the next chapter...sighs. Ah, well. Until then!

Bella POV

Chapter 3

So far, Forks High School had been relatively what I had expected it to be. I was gawked at, people around me broke into huddles to whisper about me—when I was within a foot of them, no less—and the most frequently asked question so far had been, "So, how do you like Forks?"

Yes, it was exactly as I had expected.

However, I was surprised by the reception that I got from boys. Back in Phoenix, a member of the opposite sex had never even looked at me. But now, in Forks, I was being approached by more males than I could count, all so that they could walk with me to my next class. The best of these so far had been the blond-haired, blue-eyed Mike Newton, who I found to be a pleasant walking companion, if not a little bit like a faithful and slightly annoying dog.

He was, in fact, leading me to lunch at that very moment, flanked by a black haired girl with bunches of curls spiraling from her head, whose name I believed was Jessica. They were both talking to me—not really noticing that for all of their input, I gave them no output. I was a natural introvert, and this kind of attention drew out the most asocial part of me. However, they either didn't mind or were too busy chatting to care, because I found myself successfully steered to the cafeteria without a glitch.

I was seated at a table in the center of the room, my single lunch purchase being an 18-ounce bottle of lemonade, and surrounded by a group of Mike and Jessica's friends. Thankfully, I had been placed next to a relatively quiet girl (who, as she kept reminding me, was named Angela), and she seemed to respect my need for peace. She only asked a few questions, such as if I needed anything or if I wanted to know anything. And, for the time being, I didn't.

That is, until I saw them.

The girl who had helped me this morning was sitting there at their table, as well as a bulky brown-haired boy, a serious looking blonde male, a statuesque golden woman, and, the most breathtaking of all, a beautiful bronze-haired boy. All were gorgeous, with the same alabaster skin and angular features, all with trays of untouched food, and all inhumanly graceful, as if their every movement was part of an elaborately choreographed dance.

"Who are they?" I gasped, not bothering about how it was rude to stare. Every other eye in the cafeteria was turned towards me, taking me in and assessing me. I was glad that I had the chance to scrutinize someone as intently as everyone else was scrutinizing me.

"Oh," Angela said offhandedly, "those are the Cullens."

I blushed a deep red when, as if they had been called, every single one of them looked at Angela. Their eyes slowly slid off of her and onto me, and then back down to their full trays…though I could have sworn the petite black haired girl had winked.

Now Angela continued in a whisper, as though she were afraid that if she spoke any louder they would hear—which I didn't doubt that they would. "They've all been adopted by Dr. Cullen and his wife—if you meet them, you'll see how young they are. That one with the short black hair is Alice. And the big, brawny one that looks like he's some sort of weight lifter, that's Emmet. The two blondes, Rosalie and Jasper, are twins."

"And what about the last one?" I urged, staring pointedly at the back of his head.

"That one," she said, her voice even lower than before, "is Edward. Edward Cullen."

His head snapped backwards as soon as she said his name, his gaze immediately fixing on me. He didn't seem angry, or amused, or anything I would have expected having just caught two girls staring at him—he simply looked confused, like he couldn't figure something out.

I blushed again, ducking my head down so that my hair created a curtain in front of my face. It didn't seem like enough protection to shield me from his penetrating stare, but I did it anyways. A security blanket, I thought. And besides, he would have moved on by now.

"Edward Cullen's staring at you," I heard Jessica say next to me, obviously unhappy. "But don't get your hopes up—no girls here are good enough for him." At this I heard her sniff, and gave a small chuckle. I wondered when he had turned her down.

I dared to peek back into the cafeteria, my eyes again resting on his perfect features. I was relieved to see that he was no longer looking at me, and instead turning to talk to his "sister," Alice. But a hint of a smile was playing on his lips, as if he had heard the entire conversation.

I couldn't say that I minded.

­­

I walked to my next period, biology, with Mike, nodding and pretending to listen to him as he babbled on about teachers and people and events, completely oblivious to the fact that I wasn't really paying attention. I was too busy thinking about Edward Cullen, a name that sounded too perfect to be real.

Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice…

_Edward_…

All of their names sounded so old-fashioned, like they didn't belong in this century, like they belonged with the Greek gods of millennia past. They were all so beautiful, so angelic, so positively alluring. And I couldn't get them off of my mind.

"Bella? Bella?"

It was only then that I noticed that we had paused outside of a classroom door marked "SCIENCE," and that Mike was glancing at me worriedly. "Bella, are you alright?"

"Huh?" I gazed at him blankly before realizing that I was supposed to be engaged in a conversation. "Uh, yeah, um, thanks. That's really interesting."

"Yeah," he seemed relieved that I had gotten back into the loop again. "It was pretty cool. But wait until I tell you about what Mr. Rosenthal did last month…"

As soon as he spoke, the bell rang. I silently mouthed a thank you to the ceiling before sliding into the classroom, gazing around shyly before heading over to the teacher's desk. He looked at me with some interest, saying as he signed the admissions slip I had been given to ensure that I arrived at every class, "Oh, you're Charlie's girl."

"Yeah," I muttered darkly, glaring at the floor and hugging my books to my chest. I hated being known as 'the daughter of'.

"Well, here," he said simply, as if he could tell what I was thinking, handing me back the slip of paper. I gave him a grateful smile and then looked around the room, searching for an empty seat. And, of course, there was a vacancy. But of all people, it had to be next to Edward Cullen. _Edward Cullen_. The guy I had been obsessing about for the past 20 minutes, the guy who had caught me staring at him, the guy who was absolutely perfect in every way…he was going to be my lab partner.

I tentatively made my way over to my seat, only tripping once on the leg of the front table. I managed to save myself from falling down, though I could feel my face burning from embarrassment. Once I made it to my desk, I set my books on the table and slid into my seat with a sigh. I couldn't possibly trip when I was sitting. At least, not without a lot of effort.

I turned to face Edward, prepared to ask him a question, any question, just so I could hear his voice. But instead of facing a possibly embarrassed looking boy who knew that I had a major crush on him, I found myself looking into swirling black orbs filled with pure hatred. I widened my eyes as I noticed his knuckles clenched on the edge of the desk, his seat scooted as far away from me as possible. His nostrils were flared, and his once-perfect expression was so terrifying that I almost fainted.

Almost.

Instead, I balled up my fists and flipped my hair to my right shoulder to create a wall between us, blinking back tears. I could feel that my face was a brilliant ruby red, but I didn't care. Nothing could be possibly more humiliating than having Edward Cullen glare at you with such intense dislike.

I concentrated fully on the teacher, glancing only from the board and then down to my notes again and again. I couldn't bear to look at my partner—I was too afraid that I would see that same expression. The only real trouble I had was wondering why this caused me such unbearable sadness, because I certainly couldn't understand it. I hadn't even spoken to this "Edward". Why should he have such an impact on me? And why should he even be so mad? It made no sense.

It didn't matter, because by the end of the period, Edward had quickly and gracefully evacuated his seat and rushed out the door, like he was dying to get away from me. I reddened at the thought that he would find me so disgusting. I knew I wasn't pretty…but I certainly wasn't so grotesque.

Mike only made it worse by coming up to me and saying, "So, did you kill Cullen's cat or something? He looked pretty mad." I tried not to note how cheerful he sounded at the fact that we weren't getting along.

"Yeah," I said sadly. "I dunno what's wrong with him."

The rest of the day was a depressing blur. I didn't even concentrate on what the Spanish teacher said, or on what we learned in gym. All I could think about was Edward.

His eyes, his nose, his mouth, his ears, his skin, his hair…every single particle of him was absolutely perfect. And I could tell from his reaction to my presence that there wasn't a hope that he would ever be interested in me.

At the end of the day I headed over to the main office, remembering that I had to turn in my slip of paper to the woman at the desk. Her name was Miss Lucille Dalac, if I remembered correctly.

However, before I could pull the door open, I was startled by a soft, cool hand on my shoulder. I whirled around to face whoever had stopped me, and was surprised to find the angelic facade of Alice Cullen looking sweetly at me.

"You're Bella, right?" she said, her head tilting innocently to the side.

"Yeah," I mumbled, staring at my shoes. The image of her brother's glare kept replaying over and over in my mind. I couldn't bring myself to look at her, for fear that she would see the pain in my eyes. Pain that I didn't know the source of.

"Don't worry about my brother, Bella," she said quietly, as if she could read my mind. "He doesn't hate you. He's just been having a bad day."

"I…don't think so," I said hesitantly, afraid to contradict this bewildering, beautiful girl. "If he was having a bad day, why was he glaring so pointedly at _me_ and no one else? I mean, if he hates me I'm fine with it, but he could be a little more polite…" I was grateful that the smiling expression on her face stopped me, because otherwise I would have continued to babble on and on and on.

"Oh, silly Bella," she said, sighing serenely, "you don't anger him, you just puzzle him. He can't quite figure you out. Which is very odd," she added seriously. "Very odd. And very coincidental, too…why here, and why now of all places and times?" She began murmuring to herself, apparently very deep in thought.

"Yeah, well, good question," I said angrily. "Because the first time I come to Forks, already knowing that it's probably the rainiest, most depressing place in the entire world, I get my list of negatives to grow to include my less-than-friendly welcoming committee."

She gazed at me sadly, a small smile playing on her lips. "Just don't worry about it too much. Don't let it keep you up at night." At this she seemed to look amused, like she was telling a good joke.

"Yeah, well, same to you," I muttered morosely, kicking at the ground with my feet. She started laughing, though, instead of the solemn silence I had expected. I glared at her, and her laughter grew even more pronounced. This infuriated me—how could she take my conversation so lightly? So I spun around, still glaring at the sidewalk, ignoring her continuous stream of laughter from behind me as I headed into the building. But once I entered, I immediately started doubting whether I should have ever come. Because standing in front of me, looking as godly and handsome as ever, was Edward Cullen, in the flesh.

­­­­­­­­­­­­

A/N: I'm looking forward to the next chapter—it's split into Alice and Edward POV. Until then…review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Longest chapter yet…phew! It will be changing POVS basically every time I do an "ASADSFADS" thing, so…beware. There is POV hopping.

Oh! And before I forget—and this counts for the entire story—I have a disclaimer! I do not own any of the characters in Twilight, I do not own Twilight, and I do not own Stephanie Meyer and things like that…on with the show!

Alice POV

Chapter 4

I was still chuckling as I saw Bella stomp furiously into the building, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed. It was just too funny. Of course, she probably would never understand just what about telling me "not to lose sleep" was so hilarious—but then again, she wasn't a vampire, and probably never would be.

That reminded me—I was waiting for Edward. Who was inside. With Bella.

Oh, this would not be pleasant.

He had pulled me aside before gym, now our free period (a note from Carlisle got us out of nearly everything), to tell me that there had been an absolutely delicious smelling girl in his biology class. I hadn't quite believed him…but Edward had been a vampire for far longer than me, and had a much better tolerance level. I had just assumed that someone had just smelled unnaturally good, and he was possibly overreacting.

But then I remembered that girl I had helped before school, and how she had smelled so oddly enticing—she had a very strong scent. Floral, somehow…

Even I had had to exert more than my usual amount of self-control not to attack her. The fire in my throat had burned fiercer than ever, and all I wanted to do was to douse it with some nice, clean, wonderful blood…but then I had remembered Jazz, and how my example was the only thing keeping him from turning back into your average vampire.

I nearly cracked up at the very thought—"average vampire." There was nothing average about us. Heightened senses, highly refined predatory reflexes, and so alluring to our prey that we hardly had to do any work. But this Bella girl, who everyone in Forks had been talking about for the past fortnight, hadn't seemed to be that affected. Of course she had noticed my unnatural good looks, and she had been stunned…but she hadn't found us half as appetizing as we found her, or as most other people found us—she hadn't been early as astounded as the first time Lauren Mallory had glanced our way. And yet Bella seemed to want to get to know us better, even without our "charming" factor playing as big of a role. Maybe that's what made Edward interested in her—her lack of self-preservation. Or maybe he just felt the need for chivalry, because her clumsiness was evident.

Just the picture of Edward on a white horse in shining armor with Bella looking up at him in shock gave me another fit of giggles. It was so easy for me to _laugh_ at the world, probably because I had built up an intense sense of humor. I had seen from early on that only finding the funny things in life could stop you from sinking into depression in all the spare time one acquired when one was nearly indestructible.

Maybe that was why Edward was always so sullen, always so aloof and gloomy. Maybe he needed another someone to brighten up his day. Maybe he was wrong when he said that he was complete the way he was, that he did not need a companion.

Because I had seen how he had looked at Bella in the cafeteria, and I could see the worry for her he had in his eyes when he pulled me over to consult with me about whether he should switch out of his biology class. I could tell that he was genuinely concerned for her safety, and not just because she was an innocent human.

But because she was _Bella_.

And my brother might not have noticed it, but that probably had made all the difference between him taking a chomp out of her right there in class and him resisting his desire. Maybe they would even fall in love, I thought hopefully, or at least form a sort of companionship. I could see that I could do a lot of good for this girl—_Bella Barbie_. It had a nice ring to it. She could experience all the aches and pains of being a human teenager that I would never feel, though I could try and feel them through her. A vicarious lifestyle sounded oddly pleasant.

That was when I decided that I would stop at nothing to bring Bella Swan and my brother, Edward, together. I would see this relationship through to the finish line, and I knew that it would work out in my favor.

Because _nobody_, not even Edward, bets against Alice.

ASADSFADSASADSFADSASADSFADSASADSFADS

Edward POV

"Please," I argued with Miss Dalac, "I really must switch out of my sixth period class. I can do all sorts of other work…I can help out at the hospital, or help out with the nurse—I've been with Carlisle enough to know all sorts of medical theories and practices…"

"I'm sorry," she said, fluttering her eyelashes at me, "I simply can't allow it, Edward." _Though I could allow something else…_ I heard her think seductively, her eyelids lowering even further down, if that was possible. I nearly groaned out loud. I did not need my vampiric powers to lure her in _now_, of all times. I just needed to switch classes. Because I could not—no, I _would not_ sit next to Bella Swan again. I would not endanger her life as well as the lives' of countless others. It wasn't her fault that she smelled so mouth-wateringly delicious…

"Please?" I said fervently. "I'm sure that I can take advanced chemistry with the seniors instead of biology…I get straight As, and I've talked a lot with Jasper about the subject…" Of course, the silly woman didn't even bother to check if I was lying—she was too busy thinking about all of the males in our family.

_Ooh, those Cullen boys are so young…and so handsome. Maybe incest doesn't work out so badly…_

I nearly growled at her thoughts. She had no right to judge our family in that way—we weren't even related, so how was it incest? We were a coven who happened to be masquerading under the guises of students. She couldn't possibly know that Jasper and Alice and Rosalie and Emmett had been married to one another respectively several times each, and that we were all probably older than her grandparents, though we retained all the outward appearances of youth. Though she knew none of this, I still couldn't stand her petty, human condemnation. Her entire species never bothered to think things through, or to look at something from a different angle. They just always had to right, they always had to be so selfish…

"Please," I tried again, my eyes burning as I looked into her watering green ones. "It would mean _so much_ to me if you did this…"

"Well…" she said hesitantly—I could tell that she was on the verge of deciding in my favor, that she was about to agree with me…

And then the door rattled open, a gust of cold wind blasting some of the papers off of her desk. My hold was broken. I frowned in annoyance before I realized that something more than just air had blown in—it had brought something with it. _A scent_. A scent so heavenly that it was unbearable, a scent so delightful, so delicate, so absolutely divine that it was like ambrosia to my senses…utterly irresistible.

It had to be Bella Swan.

I turned to glare murderously at the poor girl, hoping that she would take a hint and leave. It would spare me some trouble (already the fire in my throat was pulsing, begging for her blood), and it just might save her life. But she simply stood there, obviously terrified, clutching onto a sheaf of papers and yet still managing to stare back at me defiantly. I nearly shook my head in aggravation. This girl couldn't possibly understand how very tantalizing she was, how much of an effort was needed on my part not to stride across the room, bend my head to her neck, and gently sink my teeth into her pale, delicate skin, though of course I would take care of Miss Dalac first…

No, I thought sternly to myself. Absolutely not. Stop breathing, stop smelling—right now. Do you hear me, Edward Cullen? Stop it. Right now.

It was funny how my conscious sounded so uncannily like Carlisle, though I vaguely wondered if he had smelled anything so enticing before…

I turned to face Miss Dalac again, careful to wipe my less-than-pleasant expression off of my face. "Never mind," I said smoothly, "I see that it can't be done." I whipped around and strode out the door, careful not to look in Bella Swan's direction. I didn't want to lose control, to ruin my family's secret. I didn't want to be the cause of a mass killing. I didn't want to be a monster.

As soon as I was outside, I took a deep breath of fresh air, trying to remind myself of the unpleasant odors of exhaust and gasoline, before running over to my silver Volvo. I breathed heavily and ran a hand through my hair, getting in and shutting the door with unnecessary force. I had to get out of here. I had to leave.

"Hey, Edward, what took you so long?" I could hear Emmett's deep voice from behind me, playful and childlike as ever. No doubt he had taken the time without me to have some thoughts about Rosalie that he knew would have deeply disturbed me had I been near enough to hear them. Alice turned to face me from the shotgun seat, clearly very worried.

"Are you okay?" she said, her eyes soft and sad.

"I'm fine," I responded curtly, pressing my foot to the pedal and zooming out of the parking lot. Already I was hitting 100, and the roads were too slick for comfort. But I wasn't worried—I just needed to leave. To leave Forks, to go anywhere but here where I could smell Bella Swan. That girl, that intoxicating girl, would be the death of me…or, at least, the death of herself.

I sighed and said softly, knowing full well that the others could hear me, "I'm going to leave for a while. I won't be coming back for some time. I need to…collect my thoughts. Straighten my priorities."

The others accepted this without question, though I could hear all of their concerned thoughts.

"_What's going on?" "Why is he doing this?" "Has something happened?"_

And then, from Alice, something encouraging. _"Don't worry, Edward, I smelled her, too. Her scent was very nice. But I'm sure you'll only need a couple days to pull yourself together. Remember, we're here for you." _She laid a comforting hand on my shoulder.

I frowned and murmured, "It's not as simple as that. I don't think I can handle being around her, Alice. And, the strangest thing was that…I couldn't read her mind." I didn't need to hear Alice's thoughts to know how shocked she was. "She's just so…so…appealing," I said, struggling at the end. It was hard to describe her effect on me. It wasn't just her smell—of that I was sure. It was something more. It was her mannerism, her defiance even when so terrified…prey that dared to look the hunter in the eye—it made her blood smell all the sweeter.

I shook my head. I shouldn't be getting so preoccupied over some human girl. They came and they went, their life spans like flies on the windshield—insignificant, short, and annoying.

"_Edward…"_ I could hear Alice opening her thoughts to me again. _"Are you sure that you're…okay? She seems to be puzzling you, at least, more than the average human."_

"Well," I admitted slowly, "She is an enigma."

"And you do like puzzles," Alice whispered, giving me a small smile. "But don't over think this. And please don't lose any sleep over it."

It was hard to contain my grin when she said that. "I'll try," I promised.

At least there was one goal I could fulfill.

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Bella POV

Charlie wasn't back yet when I arrived at his house—_home_, I mentally corrected myself. My new home. I sighed as I pulled into the driveway, keeping my face as stony as possible. I refused to cry about Edward Cullen. I refused to let myself be weak. I absolutely would not let myself be so affected by a mere god.

I could barely keep myself from shivering as I slumped into the house, the image of his black eyes narrowed to slits and his upper lip curled, his white teeth flashing—all of these repeating in my head. He hated me. He absolutely hated me, and for a reason that I simply could not understand. Maybe it was Charlie. Maybe my dad had put away one of his friends, or something. But somehow, I couldn't believe that. Edward Cullen seemed like the type of person who deserved many friends but had few, yet basked in his solitude. Otherwise, why would he sit with his siblings at lunch, not even conversing with them? He also was obviously unaware of the power that his looks gave him, because he didn't seem to use them to gather a circle of admirers. But, then again, they probably piled up without him even trying—Jessica was answer enough for that. I blushed at the thought that he most likely believed I was a new addition to the "WE HEART EDWARD CULLEN" club. He was probably just disgusted with me for being like every other female who caught sight of him. And he was probably right.

I hung my head and stumped up the stairs, tripping four times on my way to my room. I guessed my clumsiness was magnified when I was particularly emotional. I set to work with the simple biology homework, and then, just to get it over with, switched to Trig. I was still struggling with problem nine when I heard the doorbell ring downstairs.

I was startled. Had Charlie forgotten his key? Did Charlie even come home this early? I trudged back down the stairs, eager to return to my studying and get whoever it was to go away. If it was Charlie, did he want me to fix him dinner? I knew he couldn't cook. Or was it just a neighbor coming to welcome me to Forks?

"Wait one second," I called as I neared the door, switching the lock and pulling the handle. I almost fainted when I saw who stood outside.

Alice Cullen.

"Uh, hi," I said, my eyes wide. I could see a beautiful Mercedes parked outside, glistening yellow and shining with moisture. I was relieved to find that none of her siblings were with her. At least I wouldn't be getting any more death stares today. "Do you want something?" I said, trying to sound as polite as possible. I didn't want to accidentally offend the one Cullen who was friendly to me.

"I just wanted to say hi," she said, beaming at me. It took me a few moments before I realized that she probably wanted to come in—it was rude to leave a guest on the doorstep.

"Oh!" I said, stepping to the side to allow her in. "Come on in—uh, do you want something to drink or…something?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine," she said cheerfully. No wonder she was so thin, I thought bitterly, she didn't eat.

"Uh, well, the living room's this way," I said, staring at the ground as I led her to the room. Why on earth was she here?

She pirouetted into the room, leaping to a chair where she gracefully seated herself. I gulped as I, too, sat down, only much more awkwardly than her. The differences between us were embarrassingly obvious.

"So," I said, twiddling my thumbs as I stared at the beige carpet.

"You're a very interesting person, Isabella Swan," she said, ignoring me. "Very interesting."

"Uh, thanks?" I said, staring up at her with confusion. She was the interesting one here, not me.

She looked at me closely, eyes thoughtful. "You know," she said nonchalantly, "I could be friends with you."

"Um, thank you?" I said again, still puzzled.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "You don't understand me, do you?"

I decided to go for a compromise. "Well, you're very interesting, yourself."

She gave a small smile. "I suppose. But not half so interesting as you—you have a strange effect, did you know that?"

I shook my head, trying to figure out what she meant. Was she trying to say nicely that I was really weird?

"Yes," she continued, "A very strange effect. I've never seen Edward quite so worried about anyone…"

My ears perked up at the sound of her brother's name. Edward, godly, beautiful Edward, had been worried about me? His actions and her words didn't seem to fit. So, like the extremely eloquent person I am, I simply said, "What?"

She laughed, her head tilting back and her eyes closing. "Ah, Bella," she said. "Edward was worried about how you were…doing. He really didn't mean to glare at you quite like that—it was a perfectly natural reaction."

I pursed my lips. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, yes, of course—you don't understand anything I'm saying, no doubt. But you will understand, you'll see," she said confidently. "Everything will become clear to you soon."

I raised an eyebrow. "Whatever. But is there something that you wanted?"

She looked at me slyly, her mouth turned upwards. "Bella, would you like to go shopping with me?"

"Uh…" I wasn't quite sure what to say.

"You could say yes," she said hopefully—I cursed my easily readable face.

"Well…" how was I supposed to turn her down? I really detested shopping, and though I had some money with me from when I had planned on buying my own car, I really didn't want to spend it on a shopping spree.

"You don't have to buy anything," she said quickly, "I'd just really like someone to go along with me, because, you know, you can only go shopping with Rosalie so many times." At this she rolled her eyes, and for the first time I felt like I could relate to her as an actual person.

I glanced up the stairs; what was awaiting me up there? My trig homework? Another threatening letter? I shivered.

"I'll leave a note for Charlie," I said, getting up and grabbing my coat.

"Great!" she called out happily from behind me. "We're going to have so much fun! And then afterwards we can stop by my house to try on some other stuff…this is going to be great!"

I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. It was so easy to be happy around Alice—she exuded cheerfulness. So, surprisingly enough, I found myself looking forward to shopping for the first time in my life.

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Alice POV

I was so incredibly happy when Bella said yes to my little idea. Of course, I had seen her struggling with her homework, and knew that she had no good reason to stay…but I really didn't know if that would be enough for her to say yes. I had already rifled through her closet before she got home (I had decided I needed to know about her as much as possible), and had only found a few acceptable articles of clothing. She needed this shopping spree. Of course, I would return later to all the stores we had left to collect all the clothing she had tried on, and then pass on the clothes to her as a "gift"…but she didn't need to know that.

And the rest of my plan was progressing wonderfully, too. I knew that Edward was unusually intrigued with her, and I found myself interested in her, as well. She wasn't like the other humans we were so used to being around—there was something more to her. And besides, I had seen her being my friend. That was enough incentive to let me know that I was doing the right thing, getting the two of them together. Honestly, I could care less whether their relationship was about love or about family or about hate…I just wanted them to have one. Though love would be preferable.

I frowned as I thought about how lonely Edward had been for the past couple of decades, always playing the piano, or secluded in his room listening to music, or just sitting and staring off into space, contemplating his existence. He thought that his music was his only love, and that he was complete in notes and rhythms—but the rest of us disagreed. We could all see that he needed someone, _anyone_…by now, we would have even accepted a werewolf so long as he got a companion.

Bella returned to stand in front of me, and for the first time I assessed her appearance—was she anywhere near Edward's type? She was relatively pretty, for a human, but obviously shy and quiet, with very large brown eyes. Doe eyes. I smirked. Yeah—Edward would totally fall for her eyes. Of course, she didn't dress like she ought to…I knew that he would love her in blue, not this red blouse she was wearing. I would have to get her a lot of new clothes, that was for sure.

"So, we ready to go, or what?" she asked, casting an anxious glance around the room and then fingering a pouch at her neck.

"Yeah," I said. "Let's go."

I bounded over to my car, bouncing up and down impatiently in the seat as I waited for her to join me. She was unusually slow for a human…but that was probably because she was so clumsy and didn't want to trip. Once she finally got inside, I grinned at her. "You ready to go shopping?"

She nodded glumly, though I could see some excitement in her eyes.

I pushed down on the pedal and revved out of the driveway, accelerating to the fairly slow speed of 80—I didn't want to scare her off. To keep her focused on something other than the speedometer, though, I started trying to initiate conversation.

"So, Bella," I said, looking at her from my peripheral vision. "You like Forks?"

She sighed. "No."

I smirked. "I thought not."

"Yeah," she nodded. "I just…Forks has always been a kind of bad place for me to be. I don't really get along with all this…green." She shivered.

I laughed heartily, throwing my head back. "Ah-ha! Okay! Yeah, Edward'll definitely like you."

She narrowed her eyes at me, looking suspicious. "What do you mean 'Edward'll like me?'"

Oh, I don't know," I said innocently. "But, first off—what's your shoe size?"

"Huh?" She seemed completely caught off balance. "Well, it's a size eight."

I nodded. "And your jean size?"

"Uh, a four or a two, I'm not sure," she said. "But what about what you said?"

I frowned. This girl was persistent. "What do you mean, what did I say?"

"I mean, what did you mean by saying that 'Edward'll really like me'?" She wasn't going to be sidetracked so easily. I sighed.

"Slip up on my part," I muttered. "Sorry, but…I just can see you two being good friends. Very good friends." I tried not to put too much emphasis on the very—she was too perceptive.

"Yeah, right," she snorted, turning away from me. "He positively loathes me. I doubt I could get him to even look at me straight without scowling."

I giggled. Edward did seem to scowl a lot around her. "Don't worry," I assured her, "Edward will come around. Trust me." I looked solemnly at her. I knew that it wasn't yet the time to tell her that I had visions of the possible future, and for the past three hours I had been envisioning something that had convinced me that Edward would fall in love with her; Bella persuading Edward to go shopping with me. If that wasn't love, then I don't know what is. But I would save that little piece of information for a rainy day…though, I supposed, saving it for a sunny day would be a little bit more appropriate for the tiny, wet town of Forks.

"Whatever," she shrugged, obviously unconvinced.

I grinned. Yeah, Edward would totally fall for her.

A/N: So, what did you think? Review!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Here comes chapter 5. Hopefully, some things regarding Bella's "situation" will be clarified…so, let me know what you think! Please review, even if you hate it.

Bella POV

Chapter 5

The shopping spree with Alice actually wasn't that bad, to my extreme surprise. I had had a lot of fun. Which was decidedly odd, since I usually hated anything that had to do with clothing and price tags. I also had the strangest hunch that she would somehow get me to own all the clothes I had tried on by the end of the week…

She did insist on me buying a blue blouse with some jeans, and a silky little blue number that apparently "did me wonders", according to the sales clerk. The worst part was that, before I could get out my money, Alice had already charged it to her credit card. So, I didn't end up spending anything at all, and then she had the gall to force me into the new blue blouse and jeans. She wouldn't say why, but just told me again and again that it was vital that I wore blue today. I couldn't understand, but I didn't try—I was still attempting to figure out why she had invited me in the first place.

That led up to me sitting in her car as we drove to her house, singing along to Mamma Mia with the windows rolled down while Alice's purchases took up the majority of the back seat. I giggled and laughed as we flipped between talking about life and yelling out the lyrics to the music, finding that I was truly enjoying spending time with Alice—I could only hope that she felt the same.

"Alright," she said, her honey eyes bright as we rounded a sharp curve, "We're going to take a back road now—so remember this, cause you're going to be coming here often—" I gave a happy smile at that, "—and then we'll be about three minutes from my house…" she trailed off, her head snapping around as we took a sharp bend in the road. Her nose wrinkled as she gave an almost imperceptible sniff.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, confused.

"No, no," she said lightly, "I just smelled a skunk."

I frowned. That was weird—I hadn't smelled anything, and the scent of that particular woodland creature was very strong. Or maybe I just hadn't been paying attention…

I didn't have time to finish my thought, because the next second Alice had cheerfully chirped, "We're here! Yoo-hoo! Hey Emmett, you big lunk-o'-lard, we're home!"

I laughed nervously when I heard a shout echo through the woods that surrounded her mansion of a house, "I'm gonna get you Alice, soon as I catch Jasper!"

Alice threw her head back and let out a musical tinkle, a godly form of a chuckle. "You just try, Emmett—you just try." But then she turned back to me, seeming to forget all about her brother's threatening words. "Come on in, Bella. Do you want something to eat? I'm thinking that we should raid Esme's closet—you would fit into her stuff, I think…and there are some things I have that would really work with your complexion." I rolled my eyes as she gave what I fondly termed a 'fashion-rant.'

"Sure, Alice," I said, trying hard to bite back a smile. The atmosphere here was so calming, and yet so jubilant…I just couldn't contain my new-found happiness. Forks really wasn't that bad of a place after all.

The pouch weighed even more heavily on my neck after that thought. Suddenly, all the shadows creeping beneath every leaf seemed more pronounced than ever, every lurking spot of shade growing larger before my very eyes. I gulped and clutched at the strings on the bag, my hand gripping the edge of the car's seat so tightly I was afraid my nails would puncture the fabric.

I didn't notice when Alice started looking at me worriedly—I was too afraid to care. What if he found me here? He had chased me all the way to Forks, so would it be too beyond him to hurt the Cullens in the process of hurting me? I had yelled to the wind so many times that I would never tell, sure that he had heard me…but his notes had always said that this was no longer about eliminating witnesses. He was on a hunt, he said, and the more challenges the better. He had even suggested running away, of leaving Phoenix, and I had been cowardly enough to listen to him. There was no escape. I would die at his hands, I would be murdered…but I didn't want to bring the Cullen family along with me. I didn't want to endanger them because I was being selfish.

"Bella? Bella?" I was ripped from my nightmarish reverie by the sound of Alice's voice by my ear, her sweet breath reminding me of the good in the world. "Bella?"

"Yes?" I said faintly, not bothering to hide how disturbed I was.

"Are you alright?" her voice was soft, undemanding. I found myself dying to tell her, dying to tell her all the secrets that I had kept bottled up inside of me. But I knew that I couldn't tell, I couldn't admit the truth out loud. Not yet, at least, not now…

"I'm fine," I said breathily, forcing a smile onto my face.

"Okay," she said. I could tell that she knew I was lying, but I didn't care. So long as she wasn't asking questions, I was good.

I got out of the car quickly, leaning heavily on the frame for support. I then followed her slight figure inside, noticing as I crossed the thresh hold how very impressive the house was. They must be rich.

As soon as I was inside, I was greeted by two beautiful people. The male had pale blonde hair and honey-colored eyes, with aquiline features worthy of a Michelangelo sculpture. The female had waves of billowy caramel hair that flowed down to just a little past her shoulders. Her eyes were the same golden color, and her features had the same angular perfection. I found myself feeling extremely insignificant.

"Hello, Bella," the perfect male said. "I'm Carlisle Cullen, the father of the family." He smiled.

"Uh, hi, Mr. Cullen," I said shyly, noticing that he didn't offer his hand.

"Please, call me Carlisle."

"Alright." I nodded and looked down at the floor. Why did they all have to be so beautiful?

"I'm Esme," the woman said kindly, "Esme Cullen. But please, just call me Esme."

"Okay…Esme," I said quietly, peeking up at her from beneath my eyelashes. She gave me a dazzling smile.

Alice bounced impatiently to the side of me, piping up as soon as we had finished, "Alright, well, come on, Bella! We have to go put on a runway show!" She looked positively ecstatic at the very thought.

"Actually…" I said warily, wondering if she might physically hurt me if I didn't comply.

"Listen," she said, ignoring me. "I've got to talk to Esme about some things, so you should just head on upstairs. My room is…" she paused, freezing for a second before saying quickly, "…the last one at the end of the hall! Go, go, go!" She shoved me towards the stairs.

"Um, okay," I called back, tripping as I hurried to her room. Why had she been so urgent?

End of the hall, end of the hall…room one, two, three…ah! Here it was. A plain white door with a beautiful gold handle. I smiled. I was already beginning to like this room.

I pulled the door open, amazed at what I saw. The whole wall in front of me was pure glass, stretching seamlessly from floor to ceiling. A black couch stood in the center, while rows and rows of music lined the walls. I gasped and looked them over, shocked to find that they were in no apparent order. How could anyone find anything in that jumbled collection?

I fingered the discs, stopping on ones that I considered playing while waiting for Alice. She surely wouldn't mind if I used her stereo, right? Right. I ended up choosing a CD of Debussy, skipping to track eight, Claire deLune. I sighed as the music seeped into the room, filling it with a singing melody that flowed along with the blood in my veins, swirling around me until I thought I might drown in the glory of it all…I had always loved this song—it reminded me of younger days, when things were happier, when life was better, when I wasn't being tracked and hunted down like an animal.

It was then that two things happened suddenly, almost simultaneously. The first was that a dark shadow was cast into the room, and I suddenly became aware of another presence behind me. I was positive that it was Edward. The second was that my heart seemed to stop as I murmured the words, "No…no…he can't have found me…" again and again. The floor fell from beneath me, and the ceiling tilted overhead.

A white piece of paper, lying innocently enough on the floor in front of me, read the carefully creeping words of "_Have fun, while you can._"

It was then that I fainted.

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Edward POV

It was bad enough that I had had to deal with Bella Swan's irresistible scent today at school, but now, here she was in my own room, listening to one of my favorite pieces of music as she swayed along with the melody. She sighed as she spun around, an invisible partner twirling her across the beige carpet. I was surprised to find that my ribs started to ache as she continued to move, feeling a surge of…_something_ rising from deep within me. For a few precious moments, it even overshadowed the monster within me that longed for her blood.

But only for a few moments.

Within seconds, the fire in my throat burned brighter than ever, her tantalizing smell only adding fuel to the flames. It was like the sun was sitting within my mouth, though the girl that set the sun aflame was standing in front of me, apparently shocked to a stand-still at my sudden intrusion.

_Leave, leave! _I screamed to myself, _Get out before you kill her! Get out before you hurt her! You don't want her to die, do you? Do you really want to see her cold, pale, lifeless on the floor, dead at your hands? _That thought alone was enough to steady me, and I quickly regained control of my facilities. Immediately, I ceased to breathe, uncomfortable as it was, for I couldn't afford the luxury. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger, concentrating on something, anything else. The only reason that I opened my eyes was because she began to talk, her voice hoarse and haunted as she shakily took a step backwards. Her head was tilted to the ground, as if her eyes were fixed to a specific point on the floor.

And then, after she quietly mumbled, "No…no…he can't have found me…", she collapsed into a sprawl of limbs, her mahogany hair fanning around her on the floor. She was as white as, well, me, a noticeable shade lighter than the carpet. A small piece of paper with nondescript writing lay next to her. Had that been what she had been focusing on?

But it didn't matter, I reminded myself—the only thing that was important was getting Bella to safety. I bent down and picked up her fragile body, trying not to notice her fluttering heartbeat and warm blood running beneath the surface of her pale skin. I could come back to get the paper later.

I knew that the others were already gathered downstairs—they were perceptive enough to have figured out what was going on. As I sped to the first floor, I couldn't help but focus on how wonderfully light this human girl was, and how she was so serene in her unconscious state. Did she look like this when she was sleeping? I was surprised that I wanted to know.

I laid her gently onto the living room couch, almost tenderly, I noticed, and quickly backed a safe distance away, though I still couldn't permit myself to breathe. She just smelled so _divine_.

I felt ashamed at the venom that was pooling in my mouth, of the itch in my gums to sink my teeth into her neck, of the longing my hands had to encircle her neck and squeeze so gently that it would be painless…

I was startled when Carlisle started talking. "What happened, Edward? Did you do something?"

Embarrassment filled me at the thought that he believed I had so little self-control. "No," I said sharply. "I just entered the room, and she collapsed…I think it was because of…a piece of paper."

The skepticism was practically tangible.

"Edward…" Esme's voice was soothing, but curious. "Are you sure…?"

"I saw what I saw," I said angrily. "I'll go get it, if you'd like."

I could hear their thoughts—they all believed that I'd done something, that I'd hurt her. Couldn't they see how unfathomable it was that I would harm her? Couldn't they see how absolutely ludicrous the very suggestion was? But, then again, the monster within me always was more powerful around her…

Alice spoke now, confident. "I believe you, Edward."

"Thank you," I said, relieved.

She gave me a small smile. "But you should go get it anyways."

I nodded and bounded up the stairs, five at a time. In three seconds I was in my doorway, the beige carpet soft beneath my feet.

The only problem was, the piece of paper wasn't there.

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Bella POV

When I finally woke, I almost thought I was in heaven. Really, I rationalized, anyone surrounded by four angels would have believed the exact same thing. So, stupidly enough, I decided to voice my feelings.

"Am I…dead?"

The chorus of laughter that filled the room, so much more beautiful than the oohs and aahs of a choir, only left me more bewildered. It certainly did _sound_ like heaven…but do angels laugh at the dead?

I felt a cool hand brush my forehead, as though it was checking for my temperature. "No, you're not dead." The handsome face of Carlisle Cullen swam into focus above me, his lips quirked upwards in a smile. He found my predicament amusing. My face immediately flushed at the thought.

"Oh, God…" I said, my eyes flashing open. I was at my friend's house…after having fainted because I saw a letter from my "stalker"…I was beyond pathetic. "What…what happened, after I fainted?"

"So you realized it, did you?" I didn't try to block out the humor that rang in his voice.

"It was my fault…" I mumbled, still blushing. The situation was just so _awkward_!

"Really?" Dr. Cullen seemed to pick up interest at this point, his gaze sharpening. "So, no one…caused you to faint?"

I thought about my possible answers. Directly, no one had caused me to faint, but indirectly… "No," I said automatically, "I just…fainted, I guess. Sorry."

He pursed his lips. "Bella," he said calmly, "if Edward did anything to you…"

"Edward?" I shrieked. "What?" I was extremely confused now. What did Edward have to do with any of this? "Oh, did Edward see me faint?" It was obvious that I was clueless, because Dr. Cullen chuckled, seemingly relieved.

"Oh, nothing," he said, his warm eyes lightening. "No, just—just checking."

I raised an eyebrow. He had been asking that question with a purpose, but now he was denying it. But I shrugged the thought off—who really cared, after all? I just had to get back to Charlie, he was probably really worried by now.

Immediately Alice danced to my side, again seeming like she could predict my every move. "You can't possibly go home, Bella," she chirped, sounding thrilled. "Not in your condition. Carlisle is an excellent doctor, and you just fainted…you are in no condition to be moved."

"W…what?" I said, my eyebrows practically transcending my hairline.

Dr. Cullen turned to give me a kindly smile. "It's true, Bella—I'm afraid you'll have to stay here until you're better. I've already notified Charlie. He's fine with the arrangements."

"I…I…" I had absolutely no idea what to say. What was I supposed to do? I was at my new—and incredibly weird—friend's house, whose brother happened to hate my guts, whose entire family was so stunningly beautiful that I looked like an ogre in comparison…I settled for a diplomatic answer, and so said nothing.

"That's the spirit!" Alice trilled from beside me. "Now that we have you here all night—" I tried to ignore the manic gleam in her eye, "—we can get to play my favorite game!"

"Uh," was the most I managed to choke out before I was forcefully lifted from the couch into a standing position. I swayed woozily before regaining a firm planting on the floorboards.

"Don't scare Bella, Alice," said a deep, soothing voice from the corner of the room, and I instantly felt calmed. I turned to see the blonde male who was apparently Rosalie's brother—Jasper, wasn't it?

"Oh, of course I won't, Jazz," Alice said, sniffing and holding her head high. "Besides, she'll be too bewildered to do anything about it."

"Hey!" I managed to exclaim before she tugged me up the stairs, leaving a chuckling Jasper in our wake.

"Alice," I moaned, "Um, can I know what we're doing, please?"

Alice grinned wickedly. "Of course, but first, I've got to go to the bathroom—you can head down to my room, last door in the hall—" at this I glared and put my hands on my hips.

"Yeah, right!" I said, trying not to blow up at this seemingly sweet girl in front of me. "I figured out that it was Edward's room when he walked through the door!"

"Oh." She pursed her lips. "You remember that, do you?"

"Yes, quite clearly."

She sighed. "This is going to be harder than I thought."

"What is?" I asked, curious. Was she setting me up for something?

She eyed me, and then shook her head. "That's for later. Because right now, we're going to play a game. A very special game." The maniacal gleam I had tried to overlook now returned to her eyes.

I gulped.

She dropped her voice down to a whisper. "_Bella Barbie._"

I'd never been more scared in my life.

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I suppose that being strapped down to a hair salon chair while being advanced upon by a beautiful pixie who happened to be wielding a comb in one hand and a mascara in the other would be counted in the realm of "fantasy".

Not for me.

As soon as Alice had uttered the tortuous words that let me know my fate, I had attempted to run away. But she was, apparently, not only surprisingly devious for her size but also surprisingly strong and quick, catching me around the waist and practically carrying me to her room. Then, moving blindingly fast, she had welded me to a black leather chair while simultaneously setting out a staggering array of beauticians' tools. Yes, it certainly was "fantastic".

"Alice," I begged, "Come on. Wouldn't you rather play truth or dare or something?"

"Good idea," she said, pondering my suggestion. "But this comes first. He _has_ to see you like this—he will _die_." At this she chuckled, though I wasn't sure if it was at my horrified expression or if she had made some sort of personal joke—all I was positive of was that I had finally realized what she was up to.

"Oh no, Alice," I croaked, "Oh, you wouldn't. You wouldn't do that, would you, Alice?"

"Finally caught on, have you?"

"Aw, Alice…" I groaned. "You're trying to set me up with Edward!"

"Shh!" She said frantically, "He might be listening!"

"What, does he have supersensitive hearing or something?" She gave me an odd look, so I decided to let that topic rest. "He hates me," I hissed, "he despises me. Can't you think of something, I don't know, more realistic?"

She gave me a blinding smile. "Bella, you are my new best friend, and you are in desperate need of a boyfriend. My brother, Edward, is in desperate need of a girlfriend. Can't you see the pieces fitting into place?"

I thought for a moment before responding. "No, not really."

She sighed in aggravation. "Don't worry, you will. And he definitely will by the end of tonight. Because _you _are going to dazzle him." I didn't bother to point out that it was most likely the other way around, because there was nothing I could do.

She hummed happily to herself as she began fixing me. And her definition of "fix" meant an extremely embarrassing situation. She first got me out of my clothes—and I mean _all_ of them—and forced me into some items that she had dug out of her closet. I was alert enough to notice that they were the clothes I had tried on that very afternoon. So my hunch had been correct, after all—she had gone back to buy them all for me.

She also talked as she deftly curled strands of my hair, telling me all about herself and her family, and questioning me about all of my likes and dislikes. Before I knew it, we had gotten onto that touchy subject of Edward again.

"So," she said, grinning like a lethal Cheshire cat, "d'you like him?"

"What?" I spluttered, blushing madly. "What? How could I possibly—I don't even _know_ him!"

She gave me a broad smile. "Oh-ho, is that so, Isabella Swan? Has my brother really not caught your fancy? Have his ocher eyes not trapped you in a bewildering stare that transcends those of the very gods…!" At this she started prancing around the room, demonstrating just how exactly he did each and every one of those things.

Though I had to admit, his topaz eyes did captivate me…and his casual indifference to the rest of the world was fascinating…but I refused to let myself be caught up in her heated monologue. "Of course not, Alice," I said brusquely, cursing the blush that managed to heat my cheeks. She would take it as a dead giveaway; I merely took it as a natural reaction to being interrogated as to whom I did or did not like.

I barely noticed it when she happily exclaimed, "Finished!" And spun me around to face the mirror. I had to admit, even next to the stunning Alice Cullen, I looked okay. My hair came down in dark chestnut curls to below my shoulders, my brown eyes looking unusually large and liquid-y with their amplified lashes lined in a smoldering black. My lips looked fuller than ever, just a hint of red making them stand out even more from my pale skin, which managed to be set off perfectly by the summery blue dress that hung delicately off of my shoulders.

One flaw, I noticed, was that I looked fit for the prom. "Alice," I whined, "It's so…so dressy."

"Oh, shush," she said, tsking me, though even I could see how pleased she was. "He will be enraptured," she said. "Even he can't possibly deny _this_."

I blushed crimson at the thought of what she was setting me out to do. "I dunno…"

"Oh, come on," she said impatiently, rapping her fingernails against the desk. "Either that or I'm doing another makeover session—_with_ Rosalie's help!"

"Oh, alright," I muttered, knowing she had won. There was no way I was going through that painful process again. "What do you want me to do?"

"Oh, cheer up," she said happily, oblivious to my despondency. "This'll be great—and hilarious. Just go in, and ask for a CD. Any CD, I don't really give a hoot, just go get one." She gave me a long look before saying, "No, I don't suppose you could bring a camera to take a picture of his face for me, could you? No, you couldn't…" But she wasn't downcast for long, as the next thing I knew she had slipped me into two deathtraps—_high heeled shoes_—and sent me out the door.

"Last door in the hallway!" She chirped cheerfully before banging her own door behind me. I sighed. I guess I would really have to go through with this, after all. Perfect. Fantabulous, in fact.

I pressed against the wall for support, the journey to Edward's room seeming to take forever. My legs trembled with each step I took, and my heart hammered in my chest. I thanked the lord that no one could hear it.

After about three agonizing minutes as I picked my way across the floor, I stood in front of the same white door, my hand hovering above the same gold handle. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and twisted it downwards, the subtle _click_ letting me know I had successfully opened it.

I stepped inside, fully ready for a scowl, or a glare—or anything menacing looking, really—from Edward Cullen, who was sure to be somewhere in his room.

I was not prepared for what I actually got.

A/N: So, remember, review! It's the one think that keeps me going…comments, criticism—anything, really, just tell me what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: On with chapter 6! Though I would like to wish you all a very happy new year…it's finally 2008! WOOT!

Oh, and please, please, please review. If you alert a story, than I firmly believe that you should review said story—the same goes for if you favorite a story or an author. You should let them know _why_ exactly you are doing that…it certainly makes me very happy…

I'll also put in another disclaimer, just to be safe—I do not own Twilight or it's characters…nor do I own Stephanie Meyer. I hope that's suitable.

Oh, and, from now on, there will be more POV hopping! Yay!

Edward POV

Chapter 6

I knew what Alice was up to. Or, rather, I knew that she was up to something. Singing the national anthem thirty times in a row in her head before reciting Shakespeare did serve as a sort of tip-off. I just was not expecting _this_.

I had been listening to Debussy for the past thirty minutes, recalling the events of the day. I had intended to leave, of course—but since Carlisle hadn't been at the hospital when I stopped by after school, I had simply considered having a fight with Esme part of a packaged deal in order to talk to the father figure in my life; I got to leave with Carlisle's permission, and Esme got to yell at me for leaving in the first place. But, then, of course, Alice had brought home Isabella Swan, and that complicated things. It complicated a lot of things. I had not expected to see her dancing in my room. I had not expected her dizzying scent to douse me in the most scintillating aroma imaginable. I had not expected her to faint.

And then, of course, I had not expected to find her asleep on my couch.

After Bella's fainting spell, I had spent a good portion of the afternoon with Rosalie, messing around with the innards of my Aston Martin. Alice had been giving me vague hints throughout the day that it would be "extremely helpful to my future if my Aston Martin had some new features installed." And really, who could argue with Alice when speaking about the future?

Rosalie and I had worked in silence, something that I was growing to appreciate from her these days. She and I had never been the best of friends—she was bitter that I was never romantically interested in her, and I was sick of her selfish thoughts. I was also jealous that she had a life partner, someone to love her forever; I had never been jealous of Carlisle and Esme or Jasper and Alice, but I was jealous of her. Maybe it was also because of her spotless record in the human blood department, which she just _loved_ to gloat over, though I suppose it was the one thing that connected her to her humanity…and I respected her for that. Many times I didn't like her, but I did respect her for trying.

Then the oddest thing had happened—her lips had quirked upwards, and she had pushed me out from under the car. "Go have fun listening to music or whatever it is you do, Edward," she had insisted, her voice muffled. "I'll take care of the rest."

Now, if there's one thing in life that's suspicious, it's Rosalie being generous—_while smirking_. The two together can only lead to trouble. And trouble, no matter what, always originates from Alice.

Naturally, having put two and two together, I had searched for Alice's thoughts, and, naturally, had come across a mental block. I did have to admire her French verb conjugations, however, and her recitation of Milton's Paradise Lost was simply superb. Not that I was going to tell her.

Rosalie was no help either. She had given her entire being to tinkering with the car, thinking of nothing else, while Emmett was playing his Xbox in his room. Jasper had offered me a small leak, his wandering mind wondering, "_What on earth is Alice doing to Bella in there? I've been hearing screams for the past two hours. Maybe she's given up on the vegetarian diet?…nah. Never mind._" I nearly snorted—only Jasper had even the idea of giving up on our eating habits.

Because Alice was with Bella, I assumed that the main trouble would stem from one of the two, and since Bella was more innocent (and I couldn't read her mind), it was highly likely that Alice had sent her to do the dirty work. And since Alice was blocking her mind from me…the person intended to be victim was me. And the only way to get at me was to go through my music, and since I knew that no one would dare to touch the piano (Esme would throttle whoever hurt the furniture), it had to be my CD collection.

This terrified me. Why on earth would Alice put my poor, defenseless CDs in harms way? Had she perhaps armed Bella with a blowtorch and sent her stumbling into my room? No, that was far too obvious…Alice would go for the subtler, just to see me squirm. And squirming generally meant being uncomfortable or embarrassed, and my latest source of embarrassment had been Bella, so…

Oh, God, no.

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Bella POV

His room was…empty. He just wasn't there. I knew that I should have been happy that I wouldn't have to face him, but…I would really have liked to have seen how he would have reacted to my appearance. I knew that Alice's prediction that he would "die" was unrealistic—but maybe, just maybe, he might see me as something other than his sister's new best friend. He might see me as someone he might want to get to know, and become acquainted with. But since he wasn't even here, the plan was moot. So much for the two hours of pampering from Alice.

I sighed and slipped off the shoes, rubbing my aching feet. I had only traveled about thirty feet in them, and already blisters had begun to appear. How could my skin be so damageable? I winced as I tiptoed my way through the plush carpet, stopping only once to pause at the stereo and make sure that Claire deLune was still in. I smiled once I saw that he hadn't changed it—he had kept the track on repeat. Or maybe he had just forgotten to do anything about it since I fainted…that was probably it. Anything more was merely a childish fantasy.

For some reason, that made me extremely depressed.

I pressed play and nearly swooned as the sweet music crept into the room once more. It was so beautiful, I could hardly stand it. I hummed in pleasure and pranced over to the couch, where I flung myself into its black leather existence. It was cold and smooth…but it smelled like Edward, and that made me feel warmer than any blanket ever could. I smiled as I soaked in his scent, various images of him swimming before my mind's eye. I was too tired from the events of the day to really care that I should probably leave his room—I was too tired to even blush at the thought that I was actually in his room in the first place, something that only a few hours ago would have made me turn a vibrant shade of red.

Edward's face was still hovering in front of my eyes when I went to sleep. That probably explained why, in the middle of my dream, Edward was standing next to me, frowning, looking as if he was thinking something through. My tongue was a dead-weight, and refused to form any words that might have aided him with whatever was puzzling him. I just didn't want him to look so confused or worried—an angel should never have to feel those emotions.

I was even less happy when he abruptly stood up, his gaze wrenching from mine and turning towards the door. Why was he so sad? I felt tears slip down my face—why couldn't I help him?

The rest of my dreams were frightening. I never could quite remember what they were about, but their contents scared me. All I wanted was to be held, but no arms were there to support me. Soon, though, the dreams gave way to nothingness, a blissful release from the nightmares.

When I woke, the clock by Edward's bedside blinking 7:32 P.M., tears were on my face. I sighed. Edward had never come. I had just had an unpleasantly realistic dream. Alice's work had been for nothing.

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Alice POV

I grinned as my feet brushed against the carpet, the future flashing in rapid still-moments across my mind's eye. I was just so _pleased_ with myself. Bella, Edward, music, his room…to me, it simply spelled perfection. Of course, nothing was going to really happen…but he would notice her, and that was enough.

For so long, Edward had been lonely. For so long, it had seemed as if he would never have anyone to share eternity with. It had seemed as if he was doomed to be forever separate. 104 years was a long time to wait for a mate. I knew that if I had lived (in a loose sense of the word) for 104 years without Jasper, I would be as cynical and depressed as Edward. But that's also why I never lost hope—because if Jasper had saved me from the fate that Edward now experienced, it meant that someone could save Edward, too. It just had to be the _right_ someone. And the way he looked at Bella, like she was more than a petty human with petty thoughts as he had come to expect throughout his long, undead life, as if she was worth his while…well, that let me know that they were made for one another. Edward had never had that interest in any one before—and if it was a human, well, so what?

I narrowed my eyes in concentration. I had seen from the future that Edward was now fairly preoccupied with whether to touch Bella or not—she was crying, and he wanted to wipe the tears away. Her salt-water droplets fascinated him, for some reason unbeknownst to him. I suppressed a giggle. Even if I told him that he had a crush on her, he wouldn't believe me—he was way too stubborn. No, I would have to let him figure that one out on his own.

Since Edward was subconsciously blocking everyone's mind now, focused solely on Bella, that meant that I could have some private thoughts of me and Jasper…_No!_ I told myself firmly. Now was the time to concentrate on Bella. I needed to see her future, to see what would become of her, without letting Edward know. If he knew, he would throw a fit. He probably wouldn't understand why, but I would—I knew the symptoms; protectiveness, jealousy, feelings that seemed to flip into overdrive whenever you were around that special someone. He would be so angry that I had pried with her future, because he just wanted to make sure that she was safe and comfortable, and that her privacy was being respected—he wanted to make sure that she was loved (_by him_, I added mentally). But if he didn't know about it in the first place, then it didn't matter, did it?

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, my arms tensing and my legs immediately ceasing their pendulum-like motion. My mind felt like it was stretching, tendrils of thought reaching blindly forward. It was kind of like entering a search through Google—you weren't sure how wide the selections you received would be, but you knew that a large number of the results would be close to the mark. _Bella_, I whispered to myself, _find Bella_…

And there—a vision unfolded in the blank canvas of my mind, a video reel suddenly spinning to life. A woman with mahogany hair that rippled down her back, perfect features, alabaster skin, and blood red eyes stared back at me. Her eyes, though a vibrant cardinal, were captivating—they were so deep. And she looked as if she wasn't seeing me, Alice, but rather, someone else. Someone who made her eyes sparkle and her pale mouth break into a grin. Her hand reached out towards me, a ring sparkling on her finger…

I blinked in surprise. That was Edwards' mother's ring. She was wearing Edward's ring. And that ring happened to be a wedding ring.

It took less than a millisecond for me to add it all up.

I opened my eyes and laughed, legs kicking out wildly in front of me. Ha! So Edward would ask her to marry him—a huge step of commitment for him—and she had accepted, as well as having herself turned into a vampire. So I was going to get a new sister, eh? I was so excited, I just had to let Edward know.

But not right now, I thought happily. Now was Edward and Bella time. Now was their time to fall in love.

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Edward POV

As I ran to my room, I could feel my anger towards Alice pouring off of me in torrents. In the back of my mind I felt vaguely remorseful, knowing that Jasper would probably be having a very hard time handling my emotions. But really—couldn't he control his wife? I had let her know time and again that my business was my business and nobody else's. She, however, seemed to have the line of thinking that, since she could see the future, _all_ business was her business, including mine.

I paused in front of my door, torn between racing into Alice's room to smack some sense into her, or to check that Bella hadn't done my possessions any damage. Even for a human, she was unnaturally clumsy—I simply couldn't take a risk like that with my CD collection.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger. No doubt Alice had foreseen me making this very choice—she probably had no worries at the moment. Au contraire, her thoughts that were floating towards me only expressed pride in herself for tricking me into this situation—between a delectable human and a hard place. I shook my head in disgust and slid silently into my room, my attentions still focused on her deception. And what of Rosalie? Had she been in on this? Or had she guessed that, with Alice's meddling ways, it would only be so long before something of this nature happened? I grimaced when I heard her laughter resounding from the garage. So she had known, after all. I hadn't caught on from her, of course—she was much better than Alice at disguising her thoughts.

I coughed lightly, expecting that Bella would turn around from wherever she was hiding and give me some sort of unwanted surprise. Claire deLune still permeated the atmosphere—perhaps she thought that she could cover up her noises with music. I nearly smiled—she had no idea of our heightened smelling senses—it would have to take an idiot not to notice her scent that clung to the room, indicating her presence. Alice probably had completely forgotten how delectable Bella's blood smelled to me, and hadn't realized what danger she was putting Bella in. Typical.

I scowled and made my way over to my couch, a strappy pair of heels lying forlornedly on the carpet. So Bella had trashed my room while I was out, was that it? I snorted. Alice would have to do better than that.

I made sure that I was no longer breathing as I turned to glance at the couch. It would not do for me to take one whiff of her and pounce…no, it would not do at all. I clenched my hands, my lips pressed firmly together. I would not even let my teeth show. I glanced down, fully expecting to see her grinning wickedly up at me with a machete held in her fragile hands. Instead, I looked down to find her wearing the semblance of an angel.

I blinked. Since when had she been an angel?

Her breathing was even, and her eyes shut, her shoulders falling into a rhythmic pattern as they rose every two seconds only to drop down again for the next two. She was asleep. And she was beautiful.

I gulped, venom already pooling in my mouth. I had to concentrate on her as a human being—I had to see her as more than prey. And so, logically, I had to focus more on her appearance and less on her blood. I mentally recoiled at the thought—why did I even have to think of her like that at all? Why did I have to be such a monster?

Had Carlisle been correct in changing me? Had I been ready for the world of vampires, of bloodsuckers, of leeches? Had I been prepared to forego sleeping, eating, drinking, love, and, in essence, life, for a few hundred years of eternal youth? I had been dying of the Spanish Influenza. There had been no hope for me. But now, as one of the undead, was there any more hope than there had been to begin with?

Automatically my mind formed the answer of no. Of course, I didn't blame Carlisle in the slightest…if anything, he was someone all people—actually, species of all kinds—should aspire to be like—so good, so kind, so caring, so dedicated. He, at least, had had no rebellious stages in his eating habits. I, on the other hand, had killed before. I was a murderer. Even Rosalie, whose thoughts were every bit as petty and shallow as those of your average human, had kept a clean record. But I was a waste of space, and a waste of humanity (of which I had practically none). Simply, a waste.

But as I looked down at Bella, I found my firmly-established theories suddenly seeming less stable. She was so at ease around me—_around us_, I had to remind myself. She wasn't like other humans; her base instincts—her _Id_, if you follow Freudian psychology—did not tell her to shy away from us as they did for most people. Her body simply had yet to realize that we were predators, and she prey. Her lack of self-preservation was truly astonishing.

But if she didn't mind—subconsciously, that is—then was there a chance? Was there really the hope that, someday, we might be looked on as something a little nearer to human? That as vampires, we might, somehow, regain our lost souls? Staring into her angelic face, her features pale and calm, I found myself half-believing it. Of course, half-beliefs don't count for much.

I swallowed and shook my head. There was no use bothering over this any longer—I would have to return to Alice, and try to get her to see that there was no changing my way of thinking. True, my resolve had wavered for an instant, but it was an instant and nothing more. Alice shouldn't try and get me to fall in love with Bella Swan (as I knew she was doing) just so I could see that vampires deserved as much from the world as everyone else. It simply wasn't true. Maybe Alice would now let the matter rest, and leave the poor girl alone.

My body moved infinitesimally towards the door, hardly noticeable to the human eye, but as soon as I shifted position, Bella, too, began to move. Her face angled upwards towards me, and her red lips parted slightly. Her brown hair fell over her exposed neck, for which I was grateful, and her feet gave a sudden jerk. Then, after five seconds had passed, my eyes still locked on her face as I wondered how on earth she could have seen me move, she began to cry.

I felt strangely moved by the tears that ran down her cheeks. My hand involuntarily twitched at my side. My muscles wanted to wipe them off of her pale skin. Why on earth was she crying, anyways? I felt extremely perplexed. Even in sleep, people had thoughts—I could see what they were dreaming of, what had them doing certain things even in their slumber. But with Bella, I had no idea what was going on in her head. It was so…frustrating.

But what worried me even more was that I cared that she was crying. Why was that? I didn't know her. I had no relation to her. I didn't even like her…did I? She was annoying in that I couldn't read her mind…but otherwise, did I really know her? No. So why was I so concerned?

I balled my hands into fists and jerked myself towards the door. Bella could take care of herself while she slept. She didn't need me.

My teeth clenched as I stepped out of my room, and I found myself longing to turn around and return to the safety of my couch. I wasn't sure if it was because I was about to face Alice, or because I was leaving Bella behind.

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Alice POV

I sat patiently on the edge of my bed, my hands clasped together in front of me. It didn't take a fortune-teller to predict that Edward would soon be visiting me, and for less than cordial reasons. He was probably going to tell me off, to list the reasons that he was such a danger and a menace, and to reiterate for the thousandth time what a monster he was and a disgrace to immortality everywhere. I nearly snorted out loud at how absolutely ludicrous it sounded. Honestly, Edward, a menace? There were more menacing bunnies in the world. Well, not really, but it was the thought that counted…

"Alice." I looked up to see Edward in front of me, his arms crossed and his face carefully arranged into a blank expression. So he had tried the stealthy, silent approach—he should've known that I knew he was going to come.

"Please, spare me the monologue, Edward," I said cheerfully, examining my nails. "I already know what you're going to tell me. Needless to say, I completely disagree. But, think what you will."

"That is exactly right," Edward growled, frowning. "I will think what I want to, and you shouldn't try to change my opinions."

"Hmm," I raised my eyebrows. "What on earth do you mean, brother dearest? Are you trying to imply that I'm actually able to shape your rock-hard ideas that are so clearly baseless and factually unsound?" I tried to look as innocent as possible. It was so easy with Edward, he always fell for the sweet little-sister act. Though his mind-reading ability did make everything trickier…

He looked annoyed. "I'm not falling for it, Alice. I know what you're trying to do. And believe me, it won't work."

I sighed. I guess I would have to drop the ignorance act. So much for bliss. "Look, Edward," I said calmly, staring him straight in the eye, "both you and I know one another's opinions. And both you and I know who's right." At this he tried to begin to speak, but I held up one finger to silence him. "Don't say anything. I know that you force yourself to believe that you're right, but you're not, and you know it. Let's not argue on that point." He looked livid, but I could care less. "If I happen to want Bella to become as firmly a part of our family as possible, would it really be right for me to simply ignore her? Or for you to ignore her? Which we both know that, if it weren't for my interference, you would have. So I think you should thank me."

"Thank you?" Now he simply looked incredulous. "For what? Giving her more near death experiences than are healthy? And since when would you want her to become part of our family?"

I considered this for a minute, knowing full well that he would be privy to my thoughts, as well. Should I tell him about the vision?

"What vision?" he said impatiently.

That decided it. I would have to tell him. You couldn't keep something a secret from Edward for long.

"I had a vision," I said slowly, trying not to think too far ahead. It wouldn't do for me to kill the climax by simply thinking the rest of the vision to him.

"Yes," he said, his foot tapping against the carpet. "And?"

"Well," I said, my voice still dragging at a snail's pace, "I saw Bella in this particular vision. And…"

"And what?"

"And she was a vampire, Edward. And she was your wife." Instantly, the images flooded into my mind—her mahogany hair, her blood red eyes, the wedding ring on her finger.

I glanced at Edward, ready to gauge his reaction. All I met with was blank shock.

"Hello?" I said, pouting. "Earth to Edward? Don't you have any thoughts on this?"

He remained unresponsive. I decided to try a different approach.

"Edward," I said seriously, as if I was a reporter, "What are your thoughts on Bella turning into a newborn?"

Still, silence. I sighed.

"Come on," I whined. "You're the only one that can read minds, here. And I'm pretty sure you haven't died—or re-died, that is—of shock, so you'd better come out and say what you're thinking…"

He remained still as a statue. I rolled my eyes.

"Eddie, Bella's about to come through the door and kiss you."

That seemed to do it. He blinked and whirled around, probably prepared to fend off a helpless human girl. I snorted and fell off the bed—how could he have believed that lie? Or maybe it had been me calling him Eddie…that had probably ticked him off…

"Alice…" his voice was low and threatening. Oh, he could be so funny sometimes, and he didn't even try…

"Yes, Dead-Ed?" I giggled at one of his least favorite nicknames. Of course, he had hundreds of others that Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, and I had come up with over the years in order to annoy him—it really added some spice to our lives. Of course, he also hated being called "Tulip," but that was for a completely different (and equally hilarious) reason.

He growled at what I had called him. It only made me laugh harder. "Alice, that can't happen to her."

I stopped my chuckling at once, noting the seriousness in his voice. "Why are you so concerned, Ed?" I said, cocking my head to the side and smiling slightly. I had him there, I was sure—could he explain his sudden interest in her wellbeing? "It's seemed as if you don't care for her at all."

"I don't," he said, his voice gruff. But I could tell he was lying.

"Of course," I said, my voice bright. "Yup, she totally doesn't matter to you—that much is completely obvious!" He apparently hadn't caught the sarcasm, because he simply nodded. Usually he wasn't so oblivious. But, then again, my news _had_ been rather shocking. Adding a new member to our family wasn't an every-day kind of thing for us.

"Well," I said, hopping up and pushing past him. "I really have to go and wake up Bella. You just mull this over. See if you have an epiphany." I chuckled again—anti-religious Edward having an epiphany—ha!—and strolled past him.

Messing with people's lives was just too much fun.

A/N: Well, that wraps that chapter up…I find writing from Alice's point of view to be really, really invigorating. It's like a breath of fresh air. I think she has a really unique perspective—of course, I don't know if I'm portraying her quite accurately—she may very well be more cynical—but I try.

Anyways, the next chapter, chapter 7, is when you meet the Mysterious Antagonist. And this Mysterious Antagonist POV will really clear some things up…so, if you would like to meet the Mysterious Antagonist and see the world from his eyes, it would probably be in your best interest to review. And it would make me very, very happy!

Have a wonderful new year!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reviewing! The Mysterious Antagonist's POV should shed some light on some things, but it won't answer everything. Actually, to be truthful, it won't answer most things. But there will still be some clarification…if that makes sense.

So, read on…oh, and, I tried not to make Emmett stupid. Because, well, he's a Cullen—they all have 4.0 averages and insanely high IQs. But I think there's a childish side of him that makes people think of him as slightly dumber, which he's not…it might not come out too clearly when he's seen in this chapter, but I hope in future chapters to make my take on his character more clear.

And don't forget to review! Comments are appreciated! And thanks very much to wingedspirit for letting me know that the Mercedes is in fact black, not yellow. Alice's Porsche is the yellow one…I will try to go back and fix that.

Mysterious Antagonist POV

Chapter 7

It had all been too easy, really.

The girl wasn't stupid, that much was clear. She had a good head on her shoulders. A wise head. Pity it wouldn't be there much longer.

I had always enjoyed a good chase, a good fight. Something with which to keep myself occupied. I had been alive for a interminable amount of time, perhaps long enough to call myself the first of my kind, and this led to a serious case of boredom on my part—but, killing people for fun always made things a little bit more interesting. And the look of terror on my preys' faces…their shrieks and screams positively brightened my day. And I never had to worry about guilt, because, quite honestly, I didn't have a conscious—at least, if I did, it was mute. Or perhaps it had died. I really didn't care, I didn't bother myself with these trivial ethical issues.

I had no need for motive. If I found a victim, then they would ultimately die. There was no alternative route, no squabbling over ethics or reasons. A mark of death from me simply meant another tally on my moral board. Not that I cared, because for me, there would be no judgment day. I knew that it was nearly impossible for me to die—not only had I been alive for too long, but I also possessed a special skill. This, again, set me apart from the others—my gift was so unique that most believed it didn't exist. Most believed that I didn't exist, in fact. I was just too unrealistically powerful, even for a vampire. I couldn't help that, though. So I left hints of my existence…on every kill, I left a sign, a mark of my being, if you will—or rather, lack thereof. Certainly, the Volturri couldn't ignore that. It was painfully obvious, even to dull-witted humans, though they could hardly explain a mass-murderer having spanned a time-gap of centuries. They chalked it down to people copying off of one another as the years passed—as if humans were that original. As if their murders were that perfect.

This girl, this Isabella Swan, might prove to be one of my favorite targets. She was interesting, certainly. She didn't instinctively shy away from me—no, she only flinched when she saw what I had done. No doubt it had scarred her both emotionally and mentally. Good. She needed to be scared. And besides, human blood was so much sweeter with the scent of fear clinging to it. And her blood was definitely sweet. If I had not built up a millennia of tolerance, I would have drank from her as soon as I saw her. But I was so glad that I had waited—she was turning out to be quite interesting. And all the friends she was making…it was incredible.

When I had gone to the baseball game, I had intended to simply leave behind a victim with my mark on it. It would give Marcus, Caius, and Aro—and no doubt Carlisle, as well—quite a scare to know that I still walked the earth. They would be petrified that they would be discovered, that the glory of vampires would be let known to the humans—as if I would be that reckless. I scoffed at the very thought. We vampires were clearly at the top of the food chain—we deserved to be recognized as far superior to all other species. But it would unleash a whole new series of conflicts, and if being alive for so long had taught me anything, it was patience. So I waited, and simply decided to add another death to my trail. I hadn't expected anyone to see me, for I knew that I hadn't been careless—but this human girl was unusually perceptive, and had somehow followed me—I still don't know quite how she managed it. That was too bad for her, because it meant that she became my next target.

I had been following her for the past year, learning everything I could about her. I found that victims were so much more interesting if you understood them. If you knew their life, their history…well, it made the hunt that much more fun. And this particular human was especially intriguing. She was unusually selfless, and her senses were strangely heightened. There was also the fact that she was oddly clumsy, but this made her even more interesting. Clumsy and perceptive. The two didn't seem to mesh well, and yet they blended irresistibly together within Bella Swan.

I had even corresponded with her. Naturally, my notes had seemed threatening, but what else could I expect? I had put it quite bluntly that I would kill her, and she, afraid for the life of her family—not for her own life, to my surprise—had told no one of my intentions. And so, after I had told her that "any male members of her family" would hold no interest for me, she had run to Forks and to her father. I needn't have added that I was simply interested in her and no one else, because otherwise she wouldn't have left. However, I did think that it was nice to have her in a new environment—a hunt wasn't quite a hunt if the prey never moved. Besides, I could now truly test out my knowledge of her personality. Though, of course, she still managed to surprise me on numerous occasions.

For example, as soon as she got to Forks, she made friends with a family of vampires. The very species that she was running away from was the first she turned to in her supposedly "hidden location". Her lack of self-preservation was extraordinary. And, even more fantastical, she had run into vegetarian vampires. I knew of Carlisle, of course, but I had expected that he would have joined the Denali convent in Alaska by now. But no, unwilling to draw attention to himself by being with too many others of his kind, he had instead journeyed around the world, and now happened to be in Forks.

The timing was simply perfect.

I still kept myself at a distance, biding my time. The situation was becoming undeniably more difficult—how could I keep her new friends from finding out about her situation? How could I keep her from telling? And if they did find out, how could I keep the death of Aro's close friend, Carlisle, a secret? There were so many "ifs"—many more than I was used to. Most of my victims had been relatively nondescript, relatively uneventful. This new case, however, was actually challenging. It was refreshing. It was…wonderful.

Then there had been the interesting development that the mind-reader, Edward, could not penetrate the thoughts of Isabella, and was progressively becoming more obsessed with her—very similar to me. He was also like me in other ways—he, too, found her intensely intriguing. Like me, he questioned his every action, and, like me, he doubted his existence—though for probably very different reasons. Mine was more of a "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" question, while his was, "am I a monster or am I not a monster?", which I thought was just ridiculous on his part. We weren't monsters, we were simply dealt a certain hand. We couldn't exactly help that, now could we?

I had also learned of the rest of the Cullens' talents—Alice saw the future, Jasper was practically a lightning rod for emotions, Emmett was incredibly strong, Rosalie incredibly gorgeous, Carlisle incredibly controlled, and Esme incredibly loving. And all had such interesting pasts, I could barely contain myself. If I wasn't already tracking someone, I would have immediately started looking into their backgrounds. As it was, I could still glean some information about them as I kept tabs on Bella—they were near her quite often. I was sure that they didn't suspect my presence, but perhaps their instincts forewarned them. Or maybe it was the fortune-teller. I couldn't be sure.

All I knew was that this victim, who I thought would be such an easy kill, was proving to be surprisingly difficult. And if there was anything that I liked, it was a challenge.

ASADSFADS ASADSFADS ASADSFADS

Bella POV

I had almost been expecting Alice to burst into the room. It was so typical of her that I nearly wasn't caught off my guard. But it had been surprising nonetheless—hence my screech of shock as I toppled off of the couch, clutching one of Edward's black pillows.

"What the heck?" I yelled in exasperation as Alice doubled over in laughter. "Way to freak me out!" But even my lips began to twitch, and soon I was rolling on the floor beside her.

"Haha! Oh, Bella, you are just too funny," she smiled at me, her perfect teeth glowing even without light shining on them, and wiped her eyes—though I noticed no tears of mirth had formed within them. "Come on." She grabbed my hand and dragged me back to her room, jabbering all the way.

"So now that we're done with your makeover, I think that we should do some fun games and then girl-talk—and wouldn't karaoke be fun? I think you'll like Dance Dance Revolution, too, and Guitar Hero. Interactive stuff'll do wonders for your, uh, klutziness." I simply blushed as she rattled off our itinerary, secretly looking for an opening so I could get a word in edgewise.

As soon as she paused, I said quickly, "But what about homework?"

"Homework?" she blinked. Then, after realization dawned on her, she pouted. "Aww, no fair. Why does school have to even exist?" She irritably pulled our books onto the bed, giving me the quick command of "Finish, now." Then she scowled and began to speedily work on her own.

Unfortunately for Alice, I was still having trouble with my Trig homework. "Uh," I said, scratching my head. "What's that supposed to mean?" I pointed at a jumbled mess of words and narrowed my eyes. I had always been less than stellar in the mathematics department.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, grabbing my book and placing it on her lap. However, as soon as she had positioned herself comfortably, she started getting a very sly look on her face. "Hey Bella," she said, still looking too clever for my own good, "what would you say to—"

She was interrupted before she could finish. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Edward barked from the first floor, "NO, ALICE!" And she instantly quieted, looking miffed.

"Fine," she said, sticking her tongue out at the door. I glanced between her and the entryway, mystified. Had I missed something?

I was about to ask her when she spoke. "Oh, don't worry about that," she said reassuringly, patting my arm. How did she know what I was thinking all the time?

I pondered whether I should continue with the questioning, but then decided it wasn't worth it. It probably wasn't that big of a deal. So I just shrugged my shoulders and listened as she tutored me in trigonometry.

As soon as we had finished with homework, Alice got that familiar glint back in her eye. I groaned. "What is it now, Alice?"

"Bella," she said sweetly, "have you met my brothers?"

"Uh, no. Not really, at least. I mean, yeah, I saw them, but did I actually meet them? I mean, I guess if you consider introductions meeting, then no, but—" she held up one finger in front of my lips to shush me. I instantly fell quiet.

"Bella," she said ominously, "do you know what my brothers—and Jasper, I guess, since I don't really consider him a brother—are best at?"

I shook my head, my eyes wide.

"Think about it." With that, she jumped up and pranced out the door, calling to me from behind her, "I'm going to go get some M and Ms! Be right back!"

I just stared after her. Why was she so confusing? I sighed and buried my head in my hands. How had I gotten involved with this crazy girl and her crazy family? I had only been in Forks for one day! And it didn't take a genius to figure out that her family was a little more out of place than most abnormally beautiful and talented people. What would it take to figure her out?

And what had she meant about her brothers, anyways? I blushed when I realized how I could remember everything Angela had told me at lunch—how her brothers' names were Emmett and Jasper and Edward—and how it seemed so clear to me, even now. I had hung onto her every word because, quite simply, I was obsessed with the Cullens. Great. Stalkee becomes a stalker. I turned an even darker shade of red at that thought. The only positive thing I could find in the situation was that at least no one knew of my fanaticism except for me. That was something. Though it might be fairly obvious to an onlooker…and what had she meant about not thinking of Jasper like a brother?

"I'm back!" I looked up to see Alice's petite figure framed in the doorway, a bag of dark chocolate M and Ms in her hand. "I thought you were more of a dark person, myself," she said lightly, tossing me the candy. I nodded happily and placed it down beside me without opening it—I couldn't be distracted by food when I needed to ask her a question.

"You're not going to eat?" she looked mournfully at me, and her lower lip trembled.

"Not yet," I said sternly. "First answer me this—what are your brothers best at?"

She looked at me blankly, as if my question came from nowhere. "Oh!" she said suddenly, smiling brightly. "Oh, that. Well, Emmett—bulky guy with the muscles, right?—he's quite the prankster."

I nodded. I couldn't quite see where she was going with this.

"And Jasper…well, he's very charismatic. To an almost controlling degree, if you will."

I nodded again.

"And they're also helpful. Very helpful." She looked at me as if she expected me to realize what she meant. All I could do was continue to nod dumbly, anticipating the punch line.

"And?" I said, when after a minute she had yet to open her mouth.

"And that's all," she said simply.

I frowned. "No, it's not."

She smiled. "Good. You're perceptive. And you're right. But I'm going to let you figure that one out."

My frown deepened, which only made her smile wider. "You're pretty confusing, you know that?"

"I won't be for long," she said, sounding completely sure of herself. I, for one, wasn't that convinced that I could unravel her secrets. She was such a…such a…I searched for the right word, before finding it whirling into my mind.

"Enigma," I breathed.

She threw her head back and laughed. I paused. Had she heard that? It had been barely more than the hint of a whisper. But apparently she had, for she continued. "Oh, Bella, if you want to meet an enigma, then you should get to know Edward. I've know him for practically all my…life, and I still don't understand him." She then glanced at me, her grin melting into a look of deep thought. "But maybe, just maybe," she mused, "you could figure him out. I think that you, of all people, could."

I sighed. "Not this again. Alice, it's not funny."

She looked at me sharply. "I never said it was."

The silence between us was filled only when another statement exploded from my mouth. "You never answered my question."

"What?" she looked confused.

"About Edward. What's Edward best at? He's your brother too, right?"

She looked at me with something akin to shock. "You're right," she murmured, "I didn't answer that."

"Well?" I prompted, driven by a curiosity I hadn't known I possessed.

"He's good at a lot of things, Bella. But mostly he's good at human nature—he's good at knowing what people are like. And it annoys him to no end." She chuckled.

"Oh," my heart sank. If he was good at reading people, and I knew that I was incredibly easy to read, than he must know about my crush on him. I turned a deep shade of red at the very thought…he must think I'm some sort of crazy fan girl.

"But don't worry," Alice said brightly, again acting as if she knew what I was thinking. "He doesn't understand you in the least. And that's a first, for him."

"Great," I muttered. "I'm a freak."

"Trust me," she said, laughing, "out of the both of us, you're the most normal."

My lips twitched upwards and I started giggling with her. "You're probably right," I said teasingly, "you _are_ very strange."

"Yes," she said, just as slyly, "I am."

Even though we were laughing, I couldn't help but feel that underneath the cheerfulness there was an underlying tone of seriousness. And for some reason unknown to me, it made me afraid. Desperately, heart-wrenchingly afraid. But I couldn't stop, I couldn't look away—I was in too deep.

ASADSFADS ASADSFADS ASADSFADS

Edward POV

"So, Edward…"

"No."

"Not even—?"

"No." I massaged my temple in frustration, looking at Emmett with nothing less than malice. It was bad enough hearing his thoughts blaring what he wanted at me, but hearing him repeat exactly what was on his mind was simply annoying.

_You peeved, Ed?_ "You peeved, Ed?"

I growled. There it was again—the Emmett Echo. Couldn't he be like other people and _not_ say what he thought?

_You are peeved, aren't you?_ "You are peeved, aren't you?"

"Emmett," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "I can hear what you're thinking. You don't need to say it. It's like listening to a recording with playback in the background."

_Whatever._ "Whatever."

"Argh!" I threw my hands above my head and sighed. I hated my talent. Absolutely hated it. Especially when it came to Emmett. And Rosalie. And Alice. And Jasper. And Esme. And Carlisle, for that matter. Actually, I hated it all around. At least my family members had some degree of respectability, maturity, and originality in their thoughts—the Jessica Stanley's and Mike Newton's of the world were just horrible to listen to. Everything they thought used a cliché, they were always oriented towards sexuality, and they were constantly feeding off of other people's misery, whether consciously or subconsciously. It was disgusting.

Bella, however, was different. I could hear nothing that she thought, knew nothing of what she believed…the character sketch I was so used to drawing was impossible for her—I had not been provided with so much as a piece of charcoal. How was I supposed to create anything when I didn't even have a utensil? I couldn't, that's how. And it was extremely frustrating.

Was she angry with me for being so distant around her? For glaring at her? I would be angry with me. But I had noticed over the years that humans often viewed things differently than me, having different levels of patience and not nearly as many experiences. They also relied heavily on human action and reaction. I had little to no human contact, so that wasn't particularly worrying to me. But maybe Bella was less petty than other humans—if so, would she still be mad? Or would she take the mercy route and give me a second chance? Did she even believe in second chances? Did she believe in retribution, in redemption, in a full-circle ending?

I was surprised that I wanted to know so much about her. I rationalized that, since I really had no idea about her character or personality, she must be intriguing to me, but that didn't seem like a solid enough reason. She was a human. I was a vampire. We weren't meant to be close together, and for obvious reasons. Carlisle was the only one among us with near-inhuman (or, near in-vampire) resistance. The rest of us, especially Jasper, found it much more difficult. And if he could only smell the scintillating odor of Bella's blood…I wasn't sure if even Carlisle could handle that.

Alice was no help, either. I wasn't quite sure if her years of obsessive shopping and insomnia had finally gotten to her, but really—bringing a divine smelling girl into a household of vampires, and also a girl who happened to be unnaturally clumsy? Was that smart? Was that safe? No, to both. It was most definitely not smart, for our secret could be revealed. And it couldn't possibly be healthy for Bella—she was simply a fragile, delicate human. If she started bleeding after having tripped, how would she stop a half-dozen frenzied beings wielding superhuman powers? Would she use her advanced skills of klutziness to fall on us?

Why was I even concerned? This was the question I was constantly coming back to, always returning to. And I only returned to it because I couldn't answer it, and I hated not being able to answer my own questions. They made me lie awake at night, wondering. Of course, I would have already been awake, but now they distracted me from my music, and that was always frustrating. Really, one tiny, insignificant human girl shouldn't have been that hard to figure out.

And yet…

_I wonder what Rose's doing…_

"Emmett," I seethed, "you are disrupting my train of thought."

_Geez, Edward, it's not like I can help the fact that I think._ "Geez, Edward—"

"It's not like I can help the fact that I think," I mimicked snidely. "If you're going to have thoughts about Rosalie, at least let me know beforehand. Please keep in mind that she is my sister, and it's nauseating having those images of her in my head."

_Not my fault you missed your chance, bro._

"There was no chance to begin with, Emmett. And don't call me 'bro.' What type of a word is that, anyways?"

_A shortening of the word "brother," no duh. And here I was, thinking you had a 4.0 average…_

"It was rhetorical, Emmett."

_How am I supposed to know that? You're always so moody and grumpy, it's like you're PMSing or something. _

Needless to say, I was annoyed. "Emmett, if you're going to insult me, at least come up with something vaguely offensive and slightly original."

_I'm not looking to offend, just looking for analogies. Don't get so defensive._

"I'm not being defensive, Emmett. I'm merely saying that that insult doesn't even merit a response."

_You just gave it one._

"That wasn't a response, that was pointing out that it didn't deserve one."

_That's the same thing._

"No," I muttered tiredly, "it's not."

He shrugged. _Whatever, man._ "Whatever, man." And then a whole new flood or words streamed into his head. I groaned, knowing what he was about to ask me. "Hey, what do you think about that human girl upstairs? Alice has outdone herself this time. Am I right?"

I nodded, resting my head in my hands. "Yes," I said, my voice muffled, "and she seems to completely disregard Jasper's lack of control as well as my unusually strong…thirst for her blood." I grimaced. Saying it out loud was even worse than thinking it—now the words were in the air, and I knew that all of the people in the house, sans Bella, had heard what I just said.

"Mmm." Emmett shrugged again, relaxing once more onto the couch. He was lucky that he was a vampire and therefore nearly impossible to physically damage, otherwise he would have gotten scoliosis by now from his abhorrent posture. "I guess. But she's kinda interesting, in a…human kind of way."

I sighed at Alice's cheerful thoughts in response to his statement. "Alice would like me to let you know that she agrees and is glad that you picked up on that. Your perception is amazing." The sarcasm in my voice was strong. "Though," I called up to her, slightly louder, "she should probably focus more on the movie she and Bella are watching."

Emmett chose to ignore the last part of my comments regarding Bella and the movie. "Don't go all cynical on me, Ed. You're just mad that your nearly-Carlisle-like resistance has been completely shot because of one human girl."

I gritted my teeth together. "Emmett, you know nothing of my mind. Therefore, assume nothing about it. I may be angry with myself, certainly, but I have enough control not to take it out on members of my family."

"I never said that was the only thing you were angry about."

I groaned. I knew what was coming. We had had this talk before, my brothers and I, and the point had remained the same—Edward Cullen has never, will never, and is never going to fall in love.

"You need a mate, Ed. Seriously. Your other half. Your shoulder to cry on."

"We can't cry, Emmett," I pointed out, trying to divert his attention. However, he can be annoyingly persistent at the worst of times…his short attention span (at least, short for a vampire—surprisingly long for a human) never kicks in when I want it to.

"Don't try to distract me. We all know that you're lonely."

"I don't know the meaning of the word," I said tersely.

"Come on. We've all seen it. You moping around your piano all day and practicing all those minor-key pieces…"

"My choice in music does not necessarily reflect my mood, Emmett," I snapped.

"Yes, it does."

I growled. I couldn't really argue that point. "Can you please leave me alone?"

"Ed, with your mind reading ability, I doubt you'll ever be alone."

As soon as Emmett said that, I fell silent, surprised, because, a, it was true, and b, Emmett had been the one to say it, of all people.

"Don't be so stunned. I notice these things." He actually looked vaguely hurt. Of course, it was all an act—inside his head he was chanting "score" over and over again. It was like a mental football game with a player of one.

"Emmett…" it was frustrating being surrounded by observant people—but what could I expect in a household filled with superhumanly intelligent vampires?—even if they were exasperating. What was I going to do if everyone around me was actually noticing the world around them? First Bella, and now Emmett? Soon my entire family would be onto me. It was a catastrophe.

"All I can say, Ed, is that you need to get yourself a girl. And hey…right now, I could personally care less if your choice was a werewolf. Though I don't really see how that would work out, with you wanting to rip each other to shreds all the time and that foul stink…but honestly, if it could work out, and you'd get yourself a mate, then I would tolerate the smell. Just for you, bro—just for you."

"Wow, Emmett," I said sarcastically, "that was unbelievably deep."

He beamed and said, just as sarcastically, "I know, right?"

Immediately, Alice began jabbering away in my head. _'Edward, I completely agree with Emmett. You must have realized that he's right, by now. But with you and your stubborn streak…who's to know? But really, how perfect is it—you can read minds, and you hate it, and then you stumble across this wonderful human girl who is positively delectable, you can't read her mind, then you save her life—well, at least, you save her from yourself—and she ends up being your sister's best friend. Is there a more perfect setup?'_

"Yes," I hissed, "I could name a series of better setups. Most of them would not include humans, let alone adolescent teenage girls."

'_Cute adolescent teenage girls,'_ Alice mentally corrected me. _'She is adorable. You have to admit it. She'll make a lovely vampire.'_

I scowled. There was no way in Hell—no pun intended—that I would condemn Bella, sweet, innocent Bella, to a life of lust for blood, of the inability to walk under the sun, of the lack of human contact. There was no way that I would doom her to such an existence.

'_Stop sulking, Edward,'_ Alice chirped cheerfully, _'I can tell that you're going all "we have a doomed existence" on me, but honestly, if I haven't bought it for the past fifty years, do you think that I'll buy it now? You'll come around to my side eventually.'_

I sighed. Alice was so obstinate. There was no way I could talk her out of this. I would just have to live with her believing it…and be forced into hearing her think about it constantly for the next couple of weeks, just to ingrain it into my memory.

"So, Edward…" I groaned. Emmett was back onto the topic he had been on fifteen minutes ago, when this whole thing started.

"No, Emmett," I snapped, "I will not play video games with you."

Some people never learn.

A/N: There it goes for that chapter…I'm looking forward to the next one, where I can finally write from Rosalie's perspective. And when Edward and Bella fluff is finally revealed!

Anyways, review—it makes me update quickly!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So, here comes chapter eight. Not one of my best chapters, but I view it more as filler. It's just getting me to a certain point…after which a series of events will unfold that will start to make everything a whole lot more confusing, but also a whole lot clearer. If that makes any sense at all. I'm also working on editing the second chapter to my other story, since this one has already kind of unfolded in my head. This story still gets priority, though…**

**So, read on! And REVIEW. **

**Rosalie POV**

**Chapter 8**

"My God, Edward, can you be any more pathetic?" I couldn't believe this. I absolutely could not believe this. He was actually going to do what Alice had suggested?

"It wasn't a suggestion, Rosalie," he said frostily, his eyes narrowed, "it was more along the lines of a demand."

What could Alice have possibly done that would get him to just give in to her like that? Blackmail? Threats? Or, God forbid—did he actually _like_ this human?

"Threat, Rosalie," he said wearily, running a hand through his hair. That was what he did whenever he felt any emotion that made him vaguely uncomfortable. Insecurity, perhaps, had triggered this? Or, better yet—I could feel a grin spreading across my face—he was ashamed. I certainly would be ashamed. Driving a human to school? Please.

"Pathetic," I hissed again for good measure, sauntering over to the Mercedes.

"Couldn't you take something a little less…ostentatious?" Edward said wearily from behind me.

"Hey," I said, swinging into the front seat, "you're the one with the Aston Martin, remember? And the Lamborghini."

"Rosalie, you know what happened to my Lamb."

Oh, right. Emmett had totaled it.

"Actually, he drove it off a cliff. Which was, if I might remind you, your fault."

I blinked at him innocently. "My fault, Eddy?" I said, my voice coated with sugar that had the consistency of honey. "How so?"

"He was ogling you," he said bluntly, glaring at me.

I smiled sweetly at him. "Well, that's not exactly my fault, is it, Eddykins?"

"If you don't take into consideration the strip-tease, then of course not, Rosalie," he said dryly.

I just smirked. "At least I'm not sexually repressed."

He gritted his teeth together before slipping into his car, looking miffed. I had to say, I almost pitied him. First he had to drive the human girl to school, and now he was having his inexplicable need to be a prude being challenged? But, in my opinion, Edward was getting what he deserved. How could he degrade himself to the point that he would actually cart a human to school? It was shameful. He deserved to be made fun of, at the least.

He glared at me as he slowly turned the stereo up in volume to drown out the cacophony of cawing birds and Emmett's chuckles that now made up the background—vampires could listen to a lot with superhuman hearing. This also meant that Edward would never live my comment down—as if he didn't get it at least once a day. You would think that, over time, he would stop being bothered by our teasing. But that's Edward for you—the family nutcase.

Suddenly, a delectable scent wafted through the air, and I sniffed. A human was in our presence—no doubt that _girl_. She had just walked out the front door, looking about her in wonder. She was probably in awe of her surrounding—we were all so beautiful, and our house certainly wasn't shabby. It was likely that she was simply overwhelmed with the magnificence of it all in comparison.

I was surprised to hear Edward growling at me from his car, his eyes hateful and his upper lip curled. I raised an eyebrow questioningly. What was his problem? He just shook his head and gripped the steering wheel tightly between his hands, determinedly not looking at the human girl. I could hear her whispering softly to Alice, clearly very shy.

"Um, Alice, why do I have to ride with Edward? I mean, I think we both know how he feels about me—" I shook with laughter. No, she had no idea what Edward thought about her. She had no idea just how appallingly delicious she was to him, how his lust for her blood was probably the strongest feeling he had ever encountered. _Chew on that,_ I thought viciously to him. He hated when we brought up our special type of "food," or drink, rather. I grinned when I heard his growling grow louder and more intense. Perfect.

"Trust me, Bella," Alice said, giving her a silly little smile, "Edward doesn't have a problem with you. If anything, it's with himself."

I groaned. Trust Alice to start hinting at our secret within a day of meeting the girl. She put so much faith into her visions…it was like she lived and breathed them. If her visions said something, then of course they had to be right. After all, she was Alice the fortune teller, Alice the soothsayer, Alice the visionary. Disgusting. So she had seen a vision of her being friends with Bella. Big deal. That was no reason to tell her everything about what we were and end up siccing the Volturi on us like a pack of wild dogs.

"I don't know if I really believe that, Alice," the girl said tiredly, and almost sadly. I snorted. Did she have a crush on ickle-Eddykins already? Ha! Edward loved no one but himself and his music—he had certainly stated as much to me. That had been, in fact, the way our relationship, if it could be called that, had started.

But it didn't matter anyways. I pressed down on the horn, the loud beep accompanied by a chorus of "We're coming, Rosalie," from inside the house. I rolled my eyes and reclined in my seat. I was so bored that I even began to examine my nails, which really was needless, since I knew that they were both perfect and unbreakable—an excellent combination. The only thing that could make my day better now would be further embarrassment for Edward, though that didn't look like it would be coming along any time soon.

However, when Edward got up to stiffly let the human girl into his car, I couldn't help but chuckle. He looked like he was having something venomous injected into him. That girl would be having a lot of fun with him for the twenty-minute drive to Forks High—though with our speed, it would be more along the lines of ten minutes.

I started full out laughing with what happened next. The girl, who Emmett had informed me had a nefarious clumsy streak, had tripped on her shoelace, and been gracefully caught by Edward. She now looked like all the blood in her body had been squeezed up to her face, while Edward simply looked shocked. No doubt her scent was terribly enticing, but I wasn't particularly concerned. After all, Edward did have some fairly incredible self-control, I would give him that.

But the way that they stood there, almost as if they were both frozen, worried me slightly. If it had been anyone else, by now Edward would have graciously dumped them back within the car and smoothly proceeded to drive to school. And, from what I could tell of Bella's character, she was probably mortified and would have squirmed out of his grasp. Certainly she, like any normal adolescent teenage girl caught in the arms of a 100 plus year old vampire, should have acted in an appropriate way, like running as fast and as far as she could in the opposite direction. But she didn't. And he didn't. Neither of them did anything but stay in that same position for what seemed like hours, though could only have been half a minute. No reflexes. No reactions or movement. They just held on, immobile. And they both seemed, if you looked deeply enough, thoroughly pleased with themselves.

This was definitely something to worry about.

**ASADSFADS ASADSFADS ASADSFADS**

**Bella POV**

"So," I said, staring out the window. I couldn't bare to look into his perfect face and see hate in his eyes. My words seemed to linger in the heavy silence, circling above our heads like a lone, hungry vulture. I couldn't believe that Alice had forced me into taking a ride with him to school.

"So," he said, his voice rigid. I gave an internal grimace—he really disliked spending time with me, didn't he?

I sighed and rested my head on my hand. It's not like it was a crime to look bored. And it didn't matter if I offended him with my actions—my presence seemed to do the job well enough.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice still somewhat sharp.

"No," I muttered glumly, "everything's peachy."

"No," he said angrily, "everything is not peachy. You're upset."

I frowned. "Why do you care?"

"I don't know," he said slowly, almost thoughtfully, before adding, "but I do. And I want to know. What has you so upset?"

"Well, same question to you," I said nastily, turning my head to spare him one disdainful glance. "As if you don't know."

He looked genuinely hurt. "What?"

I actually felt bad for apparently damaging his feelings, so I decided to apologize. "Sorry," I mumbled, "I just…I don't think you like me very much. At all, in fact." I was surprised by my sudden boost in confidence—two days ago I would have been mortified to admit anything like that to my best friend's brother, had I even had a best friend.

"Oh," he said quietly. "I'm truly sorry for the way that I've treated you," his voice was sincere and laced with remorse…which reminded me that many drinks were laced with lethal doses of arsenic. No doubt there was something poisonous lingering within his sweet words.

"Liar," I whispered, so quietly that it nearly blended in with the rain that was pattering lightly on the windows. My finger was tracing their liquid trails, even trying to mentally egg on certain droplets as if they were racing. This only let me further know that I didn't want to be involved in this conversation.

"No, I'm not," he said harshly. I blinked. Had he heard that? I was about to respond when he continued. "You won't even give me a chance, you think I'm a monster—you won't even look at me." His voice was desperate now, and—dare I say it—longing? Was he longing for me to look at him?

I decided to oblige him. After all, it couldn't hurt to look at an angel for a few seconds, now could it? However, as soon as I turned to him, I felt as if all the wind had rushed out of me. He was just so heart-breakingly beautiful. It was painful. I couldn't even compare. I blushed and ducked my head down, playing with my hands. Suddenly, everything he had said before came to mind—I was reminded of the reason I had looked at him in the first place. "I don't think you're a monster," I said hurriedly, "I just…I don't want to look at you for a different reason." _Idiot! _I mentally berated myself, _That was a very stupid, rude, thoughtless thing to say. Now he's either going to pry or he's going to have his ego wounded, neither of which are good if you want to have any hope of him having any sort of relationship with you._

"What do you mean?" he said curiously, and almost sadly. _Of course,_ I thought bitterly, _he's the inquisitive type. I should have known._

"It's just, you…" I sighed. It was best to get this over with now—no doubt he had already figured it out. "You dazzle me. I can't really think straight when you do that…" I blushed to hear myself say it, but I blurted it out anyways, "when you do that eye thing."

"Really?" Did he sound pleased, or was my hearing faulty? I didn't dare look at him, because I knew that he would immediately compare my face to that of a tomato. And I definitely did not want my crush to be comparing me to vegetables. Or were they fruits?

"Yeah," I said, my head dropping even lower, if that was possible.

"Oh." He was silent for a moment and then said, "What are you thinking?"

"Huh?" I involuntarily turned to look up at him, and immediately found myself blushing. His gaze was intense, as if he was trying to read my mind. Was his entire family into this "I can tell what you're thinking" thing, or what?

"What are you thinking?" he repeated, slightly annoyed.

"Well, I was just thinking about…tomatoes," I admitted, my face turning even redder.

"Tomatoes?" he appeared just as taken aback as I.

"Yeah," I said, "because, you know, I'm pretty sure I look like a tomato right now."

"Oh," he smiled. Then he said seriously, "Well, a tomato would be lucky to be compared to you."

"Um…" was that supposed to be a compliment? "Thanks. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't being constantly admired as a garden vegetable."

"Fruit," he said automatically, his eyes never leaving my face.

"Oh," I muttered, "well, that answers that question."

"You were wondering that, too?" he said, frowning.

"Uh, yeah. I mean, I didn't really know…" what was I supposed to say? Why did he want to know, anyways?

"You hedged."

"What?" I looked up at him in surprise. What had I hedged?

"You said you would tell me what you were thinking," he said accusingly, his eyes narrowed, "but you didn't tell me everything."

My eyes widened, but then my defiant streak kicked in. "Sorry," I said, "didn't mean to not completely spill my mind out to you." I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth—the hurt in his eyes didn't make me feel any better, either. "I'm sorry," I whispered, "I didn't mean it and…"

"No," he said, interrupting me. His jaw was hard and he had turned back to staring straight out the windshield. Apparently, he found the windshield wipers to be devastatingly intriguing. "It's my fault. It's just…I'm usually so good at reading people, but with you…I have no idea. I've never encountered it before." His head turned quickly to face me, his eyes guarded, gauging my reaction.

"Oh," I said, licking my lips. "Well, I mean, I guess you're just not used to it. Though I think I'm pretty easy to read."

"Oh, no," he said seriously, "not at all. It's very intriguing…but simultaneously frustrating, if you know what I mean."

Oh ho ho, he didn't know the half of it—here I was sitting next to the mysterious Edward Cullen, who treats me like I'm a leper one day and then acts as if I'm one of his friends the next—that wasn't at all intriguing or frustrating. Not in the least. And I was being tracked down by a world-class hunter, my life now being counted in days. I had to repress a shudder. "Surprisingly enough, I think I do know what you mean," I said dryly, though inside I was anything but confident. That thought had brought back a whole new flood of worries…what was I going to do when _he_ finally came? I couldn't run forever, and though I had found temporary refuge in Forks, how long could it last?

"That's good," he said smiling, oblivious to my inner turmoil.

I couldn't help but smile back.

**ASADSFADS ASADSFADS ASADSFADS**

**Edward POV**

As soon as the tomato incident had passed, a part of our little chat that I tried not to think about (who tells someone that a tomato would be lucky to be compared to them? _Who?_), Bella had initiated an actual conversation with me—_me, _a monster, a stranger who had glared at her with no apparent reason, a seemingly stand-offish older brother to her best friend. But she had done it anyways, because she was that interested in me. I was surprisingly pleased by the notion that she had any concern for or about me. It made me…happy. Suffice it to say, I hadn't felt like that in quite a long while.

"So, tell me about your brothers and sisters," she had said, looking up at me expectantly with those large doe eyes of hers. I found it very hard to look away, so I simply chose not to.

"Well…" did she know about the romantic involvement in my family? I didn't think so. "Alice and Jasper are in love, as are Rosalie and Emmett. And it's not incest. We were all adopted."

Her eyes widened before she began to glare at me, which I thought was adorable. "I don't think that it _is_ incest, actually. You shouldn't have instantly jumped to the conclusion that I would have thought that, you know. I actually think it's kind of cute."

I smiled apologetically at her. I should have known she would be understanding—but since I couldn't read her mind, everything was so much harder. I guess this was what most human males went through. Or, really, any human, not just males, I had to remind myself. I wasn't trying to ask Bella on a date or kiss her or something along those lines…though I wasn't particularly adverse to the idea. "I'm sorry, the assumption was wrong of me, you're correct. It's just, most people at our school seem to take offence at the more intricate relationships within our family."

She blinked at me and swallowed loudly. "Well, I don't think that," she whispered. Then she smiled, and I felt my long-dead heart jump. "I think it's sweet, and cute. I didn't notice it before, but now it seems obvious. They have certain…connections between them."

"Well," I said, "aren't you observant?" I didn't know why, but being further proved that Bella Swan was not your average human being who would automatically make assumptions made me giddy.

She smiled shyly and proceeded with her questioning. "I, um, guess I was wondering…what happened to your parents?"

I gazed at her, trying to decipher the reasoning behind the question. She seemed to shrink the longer I stared at her. "I…I'm sorry," she said quickly, "that was a stupid question, and I shouldn't've asked it…"

"No," I said quietly, reaching out to gently tilt her chin towards me. She blushed slightly, which to me was utterly irresistible, both in the fact that blood was rushing to her cheeks, and also in another, foreign way that made my lust for her blood slightly small in comparison. Her breathing was becoming shallower and shallower. As much as I hated it, I had to reluctantly drop my hand—I didn't want her to stop breathing on my account. However, I was more than pleased that she reacted to me in the way she did—she was just as affected by me as I was by her. "It's perfectly fine."

"O…okay," her voice was shaky.

"My parents died when I was very young. I hardly remember them. Carlisle and Esme…they are my mother and father, now and forever." I wasn't about to tell her that I meant forever in the literal sense—at least, until the earth perished and even then I wasn't sure if my existence would cease.

"I'm sorry," she said meekly, her eyes darting to the road.

"It's alright. It doesn't bother me." I tried to sound soothing. I didn't want her to be upset or uncomfortable because of me. She remained silent. I desperately grasped at whatever possible conversation was left—the absence of her voice made me…sorrowful? I wasn't sure, but I certainly didn't like the emotion. And her voice was so pleasant to my ears, like a different form of music—one that was much better than Debussy. "But what about you? What about your parents?'

"Well," she finally turned back to look at me, hesitant. "Renee and Charlie have been divorced for as long as I can remember. They married young, and it…just didn't work out. She left with me shortly after I was born. She couldn't stand it here. I can't stand it here, either. For the past sixteen years I've tried my hardest to avoid this place, but…you can't run forever." She gave a bitter laugh.

I felt despondent. Was it really that horrible here? Did I make it that horrible? I hadn't been very welcoming, that was true, but I was trying very hard now to make her stay pleasant. "Why don't you like it here?" I ignored how strained my voice sounded. It didn't matter to me how she would answer…right?

She looked at me quizzically before responding. "Well, it's so green, for one thing. I can hardly stand the color anymore. It's all you see. And it's so wet—it's like it's perpetually raining." She frowned and backtracked. "No, it _is_ perpetually raining—there's no like about it."

I gave a quiet chuckle, though I wasn't sure if she had told me everything. She had admitted to her editing on the tomato question—I had specifically asked her what was on her mind, and she had hedged. Who was to say that she wouldn't now? "Is that all?" I said quietly, staring into her deep brown eyes.

She flushed. "Y…yes," she said shakily. "And I really wish you would stop doing that."

What was she talking about? "Excuse me?"

She smiled sheepishly at me. "You keep dazzling me—I can hardly form coherent sentences when you do that."

"Oh," we had returned to that, had we? Well, that was just fine. I was very happy to know that I could do that to her. "Well," I said seriously, "maybe I can use that to my advantage."

"That's awfully manipulative of you," she muttered.

I laughed it off. "What else about your parents?"

She sighed. "Um, Renee remarried this past summer…to Phil."

I immediately took it that she didn't like Phil—this was the case with most step-daughters, as I had noticed throughout my many years. "You don't like Phil," I said confidently.

"No," she said tiredly. What? She didn't not like him? Then what was wrong? "He's nice, a little too young, maybe, and a little too…daring, but not bad. He's perfect for her," she said the last part ruefully.

"So…you're jealous?" I was assured that this was correct, at least.

She surprised me once again—she shook her head. "No, I'm happy for them. It's just, my mom was my best friend, and now I'm afraid that she'll change because of him. I know it's silly, but…" she sighed. "Anyways, I decided that they might prefer to have some alone time for a while. So I wound up here."

I had the nagging suspicion that she wasn't telling me everything—not being dishonest, but simply…omitting certain facts. This annoyed me to no end. Why couldn't I read her mind? "That's not all," I said. "You're hiding something."

She looked at me, shocked, and…was that some fear in her eyes? I wasn't as attentive as I should have been, instead mostly happy that she hadn't called my bluff. "No," she murmured.

"You're lying," my eyes narrowed. Why would she conceal something from me? What didn't she want me to find out?

"Well, I…" she seemed flustered. "Look, I'll tell you when I'm ready," she snapped, turning red.

This compromise didn't particularly please me, but it was better than nothing. I nodded. "Alright. Until then."

She looked slightly surprised. What was she surprised about? Had I done something wrong?

"Okay," she said, her voice small. I looked over to her and smiled—she was so cute when she was timid. But this was a completely older-brother type of feeling, after all. Completely. I wasn't romantically interested her. Not in the least.

Though there _was_ Alice's vision…

I shook those thoughts out of my head as we pulled into the school lot, sliding smoothly into a parking space. I slipped fluidly out of the car and whipped over to her side, probably going over a normal human's speed limit with the rate of my motions, and gracefully opened the door. She clambered out, blushing furiously, and took my hand when offered. As soon as we touched, I swear I _tingled_. It was the most amazing sensation, and she was just so _warm_. I beamed at her, exuberant, and she grinned back. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to prove that Alice was right—I actually wasn't completely opposed to the idea of what her vision had in store, and I was very pleased by the fact that it meant spending more time with Bella.

All in all, I had been having a surprisingly lovely day—it really irked me that Newton had to come along and ruin it.

**A/N: Ooh, cliffy. Sort of. Anyways, next chapter, you'll get to see exactly what Mike is up to—you'll also get to view the world of Twilight through the eyes of Alice, Jasper, and Rosalie…and the plot will be set into overdrive…**

**I hope I did okay with Rosalie's POV this chapter. Next chapter I think she gets a lot more, well, Rosalie-ish—at least, her predatory nature comes to light. Jasper's also kind of fun. I have fondly dubbed him my "emoticon", and my poor, sad emoticon is about to be drowned in so many emotions that he falls over…sigh. **

**So, REVIEW! Lots and lots of reviews make for lots and lots of happiness on my part…which will transfer into updates and such. **


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